A New Path
by Prince Halliwell
Summary: Crossover with Buffy and Angel. Don't necessarily to have watched either to understand. Willow finally gets a destiny of her own when she becomes a charmed one after Prue's death, join her and the remaining Halliwell sisters on their new path.
1. Charmed Again

**A New Path**

**Summary: Set after 'All Hell Breaks Loose' and 'Buffy vs. Dracula'. Prue died and Paige rose, right? wrong, Prue died and Willow become a charmed one; she may not be a Halliwell sibling, but she's housing enough power to equal Piper and Phoebe. So this means that Willow and Tara now move to San Francisco and start out on a new path with the Halliwells. Dawn does not exist (this will become more important and clear later on, trust me). Don't necessarily needed to have watched Buffy or Angel in order to understand.**

**Charmed Again:**

Two young women; one a redhead and one a dirty-blonde, drove across Golden Gate Bridge, as the stars and moon shone down on them like spotlights.

"Tara, are you sure the wicca group is here in San Francisco?" the redhead asked,

"yes, stop worrying Willow; we're not in Sunnydale anymore, there's no big monsters here," the other one replied, stroking Willow's hair comfortingly.

Meanwhile, in the Halliwell manor; which was also in San Francisco, Piper Halliwell sat in the attic of her home. The pretty brunette cut her finger and dripped the blood into the small cauldron in-front of her, before saying a spell and then burying her face in her hands as it failed.

"Piper, what are you doing up here?" a voice asked,

"Prue?" Piper hopefully said, looking up to se her younger sister Phoebe walking towards her instead,

"sweetie what are you doing?" Phoebe asked, grabbing a towel from next to Piper and pressing it down on the witch's bleeding finger,

"I don't understand, we've tried everything to bring her back, why isn't anything working," Piper sobbed,

"because it's not meant to," Phoebe replied.

"But we've cheated death before, why not this time? I just don't understand" Piper continued to cry,

"we've lost our sister, how are supposed to understand that?" Phoebe said, Piper didn't answer, instead she slammed the book of shadows shut,

"now c'mon, Prue will never forgive us if we don't look good at her funeral," Phoebe told Piper, leading her out of the attic. As they left, a piece of paper blew through the partially open window and landed on the book of shadows, on the flier was written: 'Come To Our Wicca Meeting!'

The following morning, Willow Rosenberg; redhead, witch, and lover of Tara Maclay, was walking through Golden Gate Park, when the cool breeze carried a newspaper page into her hands.

"Prue Halliwell," she whispered, pressing her finger to the name, "why do I feel so close to you?" she continued to whisper, folding the paper and shoving it in her bag, heading back out of the park.

Back at the manor, Piper sat at her dressing table, brushing her hair repeatedly,

"honey, it's time to go," her whitelighter husband; Leo Wyatt, said, from where he stood in the doorway,

"I don't want to go," she told him, not looking towards him, "if I go it means she's really gone."

"Piper…" he began, walking over to her,

"don't, just don't," she said, standing up and ushering him away,

"do you still blame me for not being able to save her, is that it?" he asked,

"you…you saved the wrong sister," she stammered, "she was the strong one, she was the best, you only saved me because I'm your damn wife, when you should have saved her," Piper said, before breaking down into tears in his arms.

Not much later, as the funeral came to and end and the family stood up to except condolences, Willow Rosenberg stood in queue,

"what am I doing here," she whispered to herself, turning to walk away just as she found herself face to face with Phoebe; Prue's baby sister.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Willow said, shaking her hand.

"how did you know Prue?" Phoebe asked,

"just from…around," the redhead replied,

"were you close?" Phoebe went on to ask,

"no, not really," Willow told her, turning around to walk away,

"wait!" Phoebe called after her, reaching out to Willow's shoulder only to be hit by a premonition as she mad contact:

_Willow was in a room with other women when the door was blasted open and Shax appeared out of a powerful wind, aiming a mixture of energy and forceful air at Willow._

Phoebe gasped as she was released from the vision,

""he's after her," she stated,

"who's after who?" Piper asked,

"that girl…Shax is going to kill that girl," Phoebe replied, staring at where Willow was no longer standing. Suddenly, two demons shimmered in and charged up energy balls, but Cole threw an energy ball of his own while Phoebe did a levitating kick at one of them. A second of Cole's energy balls then finished both demons off.

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! For gods sake this is Prue's funeral! Can't we at least bury her in peace!" Piper screamed, as Cole vanquished a third and final demon and knocked all the chairs into each other; creating a mess. The charmed one gestured furiously as she spoke and smashed a vase which was next to her, but she completely dismissed this and stormed off.

Later on, at the manor, Phoebe, Cole and Leo were stood in the foyer, watching as Darryl and a suspicious cop named Agent Cortez left.

"You can't save every innocent Phoebe, and you can't stop every demon," Cole reminded his girlfriend, as they discussed what they were going to do about Shax and Willow,

"yeah, well I have to save this one, for Prue," she told him,

"I don't think Piper's ready to go demon hunting," Leo stated,

"that's why I'm hoping a witch and a half demon will be enough to take Shax down," Phoebe said, glancing at Cole.

"Lets just hope so," he said, kissing her on the head.

Up in the attic,

"I am going to summon Prue; she's my sister and, damnit, I want to talk to her!" Piper spat, as she lit the circle of candles and then stood at the book of shadows, casting the spell to summon a spirit and watching with a hopeful look as lights began to form. Unfortunately, the lights became Penny instead of becoming Prue, much to Piper's disappointment,

"grams, where's Prue?" Piper asked,

"she's with your mother…adjusting," the deceased witch replied.

"You can't talk to her, not yet," Penny said,

"why?" Piper questioned,

"because talking to her, seeing her now, keeps her alive for you," Penny explained,

"and why can't that happen?" Piper asked,

"because, if it does, then what's supposed to be will not become," Penny told her,

"cut the cryptic grams," Piper growled,

"all I can say is that your destiny is yet to be fulfilled, and more awaits," she said, before dissolving into the same white lights she had arrived in. Pier sighed and walked from the attic, not noticing the flier for the wicca group on the floor underneath the pedestal.

As night came, Phoebe was jotting the spell to vanquish Shax down from out of the book, when she noticed the flier,

"Cole, do you think she might be here?" she asked, handing it to him.

"Maybe, was there anything in your vision to hint that she was involved in wicca?" he said,

"candles, lots of candles, and jars of herbs and coloured sand," she replied,

"okay, she either our innocent is obsessed with aromatherapy or, she's a witch," he stated,

"as long as I get that demon I don't care if she's the Queen of England," Phoebe muttered, as he wrapped his arm around her and shimmered them out.

In a small restaurant not far from P3, the owner and powerful witch; Lorna Andrews, had pushed all the tables and chairs to the walls so she had more space for her wicca group.

"This place is kinda creepy," Willow whispered to Tara, glancing at the only source of light in the room; many candles, "like Sunnydale creepy,"

"hmm, unless they all just like candles?" Tara suggested, also whispering, Willow shot her girlfriend a 'not likely' look and then took a seat amongst the circle of witches.

Outside of the restaurant, Cole and Phoebe watched through the window as the witches all closed their eyes, par one; a young redhead,

"that's her," Phoebe whispered, pointing at Willow,

"and that's him," Cole stated, as Shax burst in through the doors.

"Oh lord!" Lorna screeched,

"not quite," Shax groaned, forming a ball of wind and energy,

"not at all," Phoebe argued, as she and Cole marched in and Cole launched an energy ball at the demon's back.

"Are you a witch too?" one of the other women asked,

"run!" was all Phoebe said, they all obeyed except Willow,

"c'mon Will, they seem like they can handle this," Tara said tugging on her girlfriend's hand,

"no, I feel like I need to help, like I _have_ to help," Willow disagreed. Phoebe watched with curiosity as Willow stared at one of the candles and the flame shot up into a roaring fire, distracting Shax long enough for Cole to strike him with a few energy balls and Phoebe to cast her spell.

"Now go!" Cole ordered, this time Willow nodded and fled with Tara as Phoebe repeated the spell a second time; though still not defeating Shax. The grey creature flung a powerful blast at Cole as he disappeared into the wind. As Cole was flying towards the wall; as a result of being hit by the blast, he shimmered out and back in again beside Phoebe,

"never scare me like that again," she said, burying her head in his shoulder,

"what happened with that candle?" he asked, looking over at where the fire was now gone,

"I'm pretty sure it was that girl," the precognitive charmed one replied.

"If it was then there might be some residue of her magic on this which I can use to scry for her," Phoebe aid, walking over and scooping up a handful of ash, Cole nodded and joined her where she stood; once again shimmering them out.

Not long after the events at the restaurant, Phoebe had changed from her funeral clothes into jeans and a white tank top, and was now trying to scry for Willow using the ash.

"Hey sweetie, you okay?" she asked Piper; who had just entered the attic,

"no, and I don't think I ever will be, but…you're right, we have to save this girl and defeat this demon…for Prue if for nothing else," the now eldest sister replied, placing her hands on the book of shadows,

"are you sure this will work with just the two of us?" she asked.

"Well, it worked with just you and Prue when the day was first lived," Phoebe stated,

"yeah, but you were still alive, which meant we were still charmed; that's why it worked," Piper said,

"it's worth a shot," Phoebe said,

"not at the risk of ending up like Prue," Piper disagreed,

"Piper, you said it yourself, we have to save this girl!" Phoebe exclaimed,

"what makes you think we'll be able to save her if we couldn't save Prue?" Piper said softly, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"If this our lives, if we're all gonna end up like Prue, then I don't see the point in living, why do we come into this world just to leave it again…why…why did Prue have to leave it?" she sobbed,

"we come into this world to live, and that's what Prue would want us to do, we have to fight this fight, otherwise you'll just prove yourself right, that life isn't worth living, but ours is, because we help other people keep on living, we're heroes Piper, and so was Prue, she was the biggest hero of us all; she was a champion," Phoebe reassured her sister, while fighting against her own tears.

"Leo's found something," Cole said, stepping into the doorway,

"we'll be right down," Phoebe told him, wiping away her own tears before doing the same for Piper,

"you okay?" the clairvoyant asked, as her boyfriend headed back downstairs,

"yeah, lets go save this innocent and beat this demon, for Prue," Piper replied,

"for Prue," Phoebe repeated, with a nod, as she followed Piper downstairs.

"So, what is it that you found?" Piper asked her husband, as they all stood in the foyer,

"that your innocent; Willow Rosenberg, is here for a reason," he replied,

"what do you mean?" Phoebe questioned,

"she's destined to be here, with you," he said,

"can you fill in the blanks?" Piper said,

"Willow is the only force of magic strong enough to equal to yours, her level of power is the same as that of a charmed one, maybe even more; she's the only one who can restore the power of three," he explained.

"But I thought the power of three was all about sisterhood?" Cole said,

"it doesn't look that way, it's about power…and love," Leo said, glancing at the sisters,

"love? love just feels like a portal for pain," Piper said, as a tear began to shine in each eye,

"then maybe we don't start with love, maybe we just start with friendship," Phoebe suggested, this was then followed by a short silence,

"friendship sounds good," Piper nodded.

"Okay then, lets get back to scrying for our fellow charmed one," Phoebe said,

"it feels weird saying that, considering Prue isn't the fellow charmed one we're scrying for," she added,

"I know, but maybe someday we'll get used to it," Piper told her, as they made their way back up to the attic.

The air rippled and orbs formed in an alley as Leo, Piper, Phoebe and Cole appeared,

"there she is," Cole stated, pointing to where Willow and Tara were walking towards Quake.

"Willow! Hey Willow! Wait!" Phoebe called after her, running towards the redhead,

"aren't they the ones from the wicca meeting?" Tara whispered to her girlfriend, while looking from Phoebe to Cole,

"yeah, and according to my research, they're the two surviving charmed ones," Willow replied, glancing at Piper and Phoebe.

"Willow, we need your help," Piper said, as they approached the couple,

"my help?" she said, "but you're the charmed ones!"

"not without you were not," the brunette stated,

"what do you mean?" Willow asked,

"you're charmed," Cole replied,

"it's your destiny," Leo smiled. Tara tried not to yelp as Willow's hand tightened around hers, as a sign of the redhead's shock.

Twenty minutes later, Piper, Phoebe, Cole, Tara, Leo and Willow were in the attic, Willow was sitting with the Book of Shadows on her lap, while Piper and Phoebe sat on either side of her and their partners stood opposite them.

"This is amazing," Willow whispered,

"the Elders said you'll have to cast the spell you originally said to receive your powers," Leo told them,

"but why?" Phoebe asked, "we still have out powers,"

"because Willow needs Prue's powers to complete the power of three," Piper replied,

"but won't that leave Prue's spirit without her powers?" Tara said,

"no, you see the way it works is that Willow won't actually receive Prue's powers, just the same powers that Prue had," the whitelighter explained,

"telekinesis and astral projection," Willow stated,

"yeah, how did you know?" Leo asked,

"I did my research after I was attacked by the big grey guy who looked like he'd escaped from a pyjama party," she replied. Piper and Phoebe both cracked a smile,

"most people just call him Shax," Piper said,

"big grey pyjama party guy sounds better," Willow smirked.

"Okay then, lets cast this spell," Phoebe said, turning to the right page and tapping it as a hint for Piper and Willow to also say it,

"we'll have to reword it slightly, change 'sisters' to 'witches'," Piper said, they nodded and chanted the spell:

"Hear now the words of the witches,

The secrets we hid in the night,

The oldest of gods are invoked here,

The great work of magic is sought.

In this night and in this hour,

We call upon the ancient power,

Bring your powers to we witches three,

We want the power, give us the power."

A soft breeze blew through the attic as Piper and Phoebe began to feel powerful again; like they did when Prue was alive, while Willow became overwhelmed by her newfound magical strength; showing this by breathing heavily and clutching her chest.

"Time to put being charmed to the test," Cole said, as a heavy gale roared through the attic and Shax materialised,

"what do I do?" Willow asked, panicking,

"wave your hand at him," Piper replied, attempting to freeze the monstrous creature. Willow gestured at Shax but failed to release a telekinetic blast, her body standing limp instead and her astral self appearing in-front of him,

"charmed one," he groaned, before aiming a blast at Astral Willow and causing her to fly through the air; returning to her body before she hit the wall.

"Dissolve," Tara whispered, making a 'sprinkling' gesture at Shax; whose body split apart into thousands of tiny particles and then reformed after a few seconds.

"Tara!" Willow screeched, as Shax grabbed her lover by her neck and stroked her dirty blonde hair,

"your end has come," he chuckled, redirecting a blast Willow had released and then imbedding his sharp talons into Tara's throat.

"Leo…" Piper said, after managing to blast Shax away from Tara,

"I'm on it," he assured her, running over to heal the wounded wicca,

"you've just made a big mistake," Willow growled, glaring at Shax. He cowered slightly and seemed to fear her, as telekinetic energy coursed through her body and lifted her into the air,

"Willow?" Phoebe said, "what's happening?" she asked,

"she's proving just how charmed she is," Cole replied,

"or at least something like that," Piper said, as Willow's eyes turned black for a moment or two while she released a wave of kinetic power, pounding Shax against the wall.

"Willow, we need to cast the spell," Piper stated,

"wait, I'm not done yet," she told them, as another blast propelled from her hands,

"now you're done," Cole said, taking hold of her arms and making the flowing energy around her stop; lowering her back down to the ground. The three charmed ones stood at the Book of Shadows and chanted:

"Evil wind that blows,

That which forms below,

No longer may you dwell,

Death takes you with this spell."

Flames danced around Shax's body as he exploded,

"he was just the messenger," Piper said,

"we need to get the source," Phoebe added,

"the source of what?" Tara asked,

"of all evil," Leo replied,

"this looks like it's going to be interesting," Willow said,

"trust me, it is," Phoebe said,

"yeah, but it gets boring after a while," Piper smirked, as they walked from the attic and the book closed by itself and the triquetra emblem on the front glowed.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- Willow and Tara return to Sunnydale to announce their plans to move to San Francisco. While there's sorrow in the manor as Piper and Phoebe sort out Prue's room ready for Willow and Tara to move in. And Willow doubts she's good enough to be a charmed one.**

'**Moving On' should be up soon. **


	2. Moving On

**Right, some Buffy characters appear in this, so here's their backgrounds-**

**Buffy Anne Summers: Vampire Slayer. Blonde. Protective. A bit fashion conscious. Tends to fall for bad boys.**

**Xander Harris: Buffy's number one sidekick. The only one who doesn't or has never had a destiny. Funny. Likes to joke at inappropriate times. Loves girlfriend Anya no matter how uncomforting she gets.**

**Anya Jenkins: Ex-vengeance demon. Funny but doesn't really mean to be. Sarcastic. Adores money.**

**Rupert Giles: A Watcher- guardian and trainer of slayers. Knows a lot about demonology and is intelligent. **

**Thanks everyone who reviewed!**

**Moving On:**

Willow made her way down the steps to Giles's apartment, reaching out and tapping her knuckles against the door,

"Willow, how wonderful to se you back," he greeted, as he opened the door.

"Hey Giles," she smiled,

"hey Will, where's Tara?" Xander asked, walking over and giving his friend a quick hug, "leave her in San Francisco?" he joked,

"actually, no, she's packing up our things," the redhead replied.

"Why? where are you going?" Anya asked; standing next to her boyfriend,

"San Francisco," she informed them, looking down to avoid eye contact,

"but you just came from there," Giles stated,

"yeah, but I'm going back there to live," she said, looking Xander straight in his eyes as she spoke.

Meanwhile, at the Halliwell manor,

"it feels weird knowing that Willow and Tara will be going to sleep and waking up in here, not Prue," Piper said, brushing her hand against the bed as she walked passed.

"Hmm, but they seem nice, so it's not like we're letting complete strangers into the house," Phoebe assured her,

"yeah, but still…it's gonna be weird for a while," Piper said, as she opened the closet and took out Prue's black leather jacket; putting it on.

"What are we gonna do with all her stuff?" Phoebe asked, "and her car?"

"sell it I guess, unless you want it?" Piper replied, glancing at her younger sister,

"no, but maybe Willow might?" the clairvoyant suggested,

"maybe," Piper nodded,

"so, what are we gonna do with all the rest?" the youngest sister asked,

"keep it," the middle-turned-eldest replied, opening the jewellery box next to her and taking out a necklace which had 'Prue' written on it.

Back in Sunnydale, Willow was sitting in the Summers home and had just told Buffy her news,

"but…can't you just not go?" the slayer asked,

"I don't have a choice, it's my destiny, I thought you of all people would understand that," Willow replied.

"I do…it's just…it's gonna feel strange without you," Buffy said,

"and it's gonna feel strange without you, but I have Piper and Phoebe now, you don't have to worry about me," the witch explained,

"I'm gonna miss you so much Will," Buffy sobbed, as they shared a hug,

"I'm gonna miss you too," Willow said, as tears softly rolled down her cheeks.

"Promise me you'll visit?" Buffy said,

"promise," the redhead nodded, "and now I have a quick and easy way of doing it," she added, before her body fell limp and rested on the sofa,

"Willow? Willow? are you okay?" Buffy asked; beginning to get worried.

"I'm fine," a voice said, as the blonde turned to see another Willow standing behind her,

"how?" she asked,

"astral projection," Willow replied, returning to her body as she spoke,

"sounds like your new life is gonna be pretty cool," Buffy stated,

"hmmm, no matter how cool it gets, I'll never forget you guys," Willow promised, taking a hold of Buffy's hand and closing her eyes,

"create," she simply whispered. Buffy felt something form in her hand as Willow moved hers away to reveal that each of them held a gold ring; Willow's with 'Buffy' engraved on the outside and vice versa. The pair smiled as they each slipped their own ring onto their own finger.

In San Francisco, a storm had suddenly began to rage over the city and Phoebe was convinced it was _supernatural_, while Piper hoped her sister was just overreacting and it was completely _natural_.

"I'm telling you, you're crazy!" Piper commented,

"why? because I'm finding evil before it finds us?" Phoebe asked,

"because you think the weather is going to attack us!" Piper replied,

"haven't you ever seen 'Twister'?" Phoebe said,

"that was not real," Piper sighed,

"it could be!" the youngest argued, charging towards the Book of Shadows and reaching out to touch it, just as a lightening bolt shot through the window and threw her across the room,

"told you so," she groaned.

"Okay, so we know the weather is evil, but unless you have Mother Nature on speed-dial there's nothing we can do," Piper stated, helping her sister up,

"there must be something in the book," Phoebe said, walking over to see their family heritage was no longer there,

"you think the weather demon took it?" she asked,

"sure, then maybe he gave it to Frosty the snowman," Piper said sarcastically, through gritted teeth.

"Piper, I'm being serious," Phoebe stated, "and if you don't believe me then look," she added, pointing out through the window. Piper looked where her sister's hand was pointed and saw that the Book of Shadows saw swirling around amongst a powerful gust of wind,

"but I thought demons couldn't get the book of shadows!" she protested,

"maybe demons can't but magical wind can?" Phoebe suggested,

"wind," Piper whispered.

"What about it?" Phoebe questioned,

"Shax, he was some kind of wind demon, maybe this is connected to him," the eldest living sister replied,

"I hope for his sake that he's not back," Phoebe scowled,

"he's not," Cole told them, as he entered the attic.

"Then what's going on?" Phoebe asked,

"Shax was part of an assassin group called the Order Of The Elements, killing a member of the Order causes the element of their dominion to cause destruction over the whole world, the only way to stop it is to either bring him back or vanquish the remaining demons of the Order," the half-demon explained,

"I vote for door number two," Piper stated.

"We're gonna need the book," Phoebe said,

"and Willow," Cole added,

"and right now we have neither," Piper sighed,

"I'll make up a spell to vanquish the remaining members, Cole, you can use your knowledge on the Order to help me, while you, Piper, get Leo to orb you to Sunnydale to get Willow," Phoebe instructed,

"lets get goin' then," Piper nodded, clapping her hands as she spoke.

At UC Sunnydale, Willow had just informed the college of her departure, and was walking through the building, when a fiery globe whizzed passed her head. The witch then turned around to see herself face to face with a burning flame that was in the shape of a woman,

"please work, please work," she begged in a whisper, before closing her eyes and throwing out her hand; managing to successfully release a telekinetic blast which hit a nearby table rather than the actual demon, but she at least saw it as a start to controlling her new abilities.

"Burn!" the fire creature yelled, before lifting into the air and shooting towards Willow. The witch threw out her hand again, this time actually getting the demon and flinging to backwards,

"now time for magic trick number two," Willow said to herself, before her head flopped down and her body stood limp.

Astral Willow appeared in the Halliwell attic out of a scarlet flare,

"Willow, what are you doing here? Piper and Leo had just orbed to Sunnydale," Phoebe said, from where she stood at the book,

"I need a vanquishing spell," Willow said,

"for who?" Cole asked,

"some kind of woman made of fire," the redhead replied.

"Pyronia," Cole murmured,

"who?" Willow asked in confusion,

"kinda like Shax but can control fire rather than wind," the half demon explained,

"okay, so you got a spell?" Willow said,

"no, but you go back and keep her occupied until we do," Phoebe replied, Willow nodded and vanished from the room.

She awoke back in her body to find Pyronia frozen and Piper and Leo standing in-front of her.

"Where've you been?" Piper asked impatiently,

"at the manor, Phoebe's gonna come with a spell," Willow replied,

"good, because she's starting to break through the freeze," Leo stated. Pyronia suddenly regained movement and her fire arm stretched inhumanly towards the trio,

"Piper freeze her again!" Willow panicked,

"I'm trying!" Piper claimed, repeatedly flicking out her hands. The flaming limb tossed Piper and Leo to one side; giving them minor burns, before moving back to Pyronia's body. Then the burning demoness hovered forward and completely consumed Willow, burning her from the inside out until releasing her charred body and watching it drop to the floor,

"now the power of three is truly over," Pyronia said, disappearing into a burst of flame. Piper and Leo ran straight to Willow's burnt and bloodied body,

"heal her damnit," Piper ordered,

"I've tried honey, I'm sorry," Leo said,

"she's…no…she can't be…I've already lost Prue, I can't lose her too, there has to be a way," Piper stammered, tears beginning to trickle from her chocolate eyes.

Floating above the couple and Willow's body, was in fact Willow's spirit. She was dressed in long sleeved angelic white gown, while her short crinkly red hair was shining beneath the golden glow that was slowly surrounding her.

"I'm dead?" she said, her brow wrinkling as she stared down in confusion,

"not completely," a new voice replied, as she found herself in a realm of whiteness, face to face with a raven haired woman.

"Prue?" Willow whispered, the woman nodded,

"my sisters need you Willow, the world needs you, and I'm here to make sure they manage to keep you," she said,

"you can resurrect me?" Willow asked, Prue smiled and shook her head,

"I'm not that powerful, but, I do now how to get you alive again before you _do_ completely die and move on to the afterlife," the deceased Halliwell replied,

"how?" the young witch asked,

"my helping you to stop doubting yourself and your abilities," Prue informed her, before taking hold of Willow's hand and transporting them to one of the known churches in Sunnydale.

"Can they see us?" Willow asked, glancing at the congregation in-front of them,

"no," Prue assured her, leading the redhead down the centre aisle and towards an open casket. Inside lay Willow, looking like she did now, except she was dressed in a knee length black dress; which had straps slightly off her shoulders, and a pair of black heels.

"This is what's gonna happen in a few days if you don't stop doubting yourself like I said," Prue told her,

"but I don't look all icky and burnt," Willow stated,

"Piper and Phoebe would have magically restored your body," Prue said.

"Can we go, please?" the redhead asked, seeing Tara standing up and walking forward to speak, Prue nodded,

"I think you've seen all that you need to do," she said, taking hold of Willow's hand again and causing the area around them to shift and swirl.

"Where are we now?" the _almost_ dead witch asked,

"the same day we were just at, except this time, you stopped doubting yourself and survived," the _actually _dead witch replied. They stood and watched as a living Willow, Piper and Phoebe entered the dimly lit warehouse,

"so what did you say this demon was called?" Piper asked,

"Hydrax," Phoebe replied,

"why do demons have strange names?" Willow said,

"god knows, though I don't think he's ever decided to share," Piper commented.

"Watch out!" Spirit Willow hollered, as a whirlpool formed in the ground behind them and rose to form a demon very familiar to Shax, except more blue and wet,

"they can't hear you," Prue said, but soon took this back as living Willow turned around and waved her hand at Hydrax; throwing him backwards through the air.

"You sure about that not hearing me thing?" Spirit Willow asked,

"maybe it's because you're the same person," Prue replied, she frowned, "sort of." The pair continued to watch as Piper froze Hydrax and they chanted a spell which took affect just as he broke through the freeze,

"that's all of them," Piper stated,

"you never know, the next demon we face could be the Source," Phoebe said,

"you never know," Piper agreed, as they turned to leave.

"Can she see us?" Spirit Willow asked, as her living future self stopped in her tracks, turned and smiled,

"she can," Prue said, with a smile of her own,

"what does that mean?" Spirit Willow continued to question,

"you stopped doubting yourself," Prue explained, leaning forward and hugging the redhead; a strange sensation passing through them both as their non-corporeal bodies met.

"Tell my sisters I love them," Prue whispered in her ear, before Willow closed her eyes and awoke to find herself back in her-completely healed-body.

"Willow? How….how are you back?" Piper questioned,

"Prue," she replied,

"Prue?" Leo repeated, sorrow and confusion moulded into Piper's face at the mention of her recently departed sister,

"it's a long story," Willow told them.

"Promise you'll explain later?" Piper said, turning around and freezing Pyronia again,

"promise," Willow nodded,

"we need Phoebe's spell," Piper stated,

"I'll go get her," Leo said,

"no need," Phoebe said, as Cole shimmered her in.

"Lets get vanquishing," Willow said, as she and Piper stood beside Phoebe and chanted the spell:

"Evil flame that burns,

The demonic fire that churns,

No longer may you blaze,

We stop your deadly craze."

Pyronia unfroze and screeched in agony as swirls of water crashed around her and she exploded,

"two down, two to go," Phoebe stated, "any idea where we can find Hydrax and Wireck?"

"no," Willow replied,

"Wireck likes earth right? maybe somewhere earthy? like Golden Gate Park?" Piper suggested,

"can you guys vanquish him without me? there's something I need to take care of," Willow said,

"sure," Piper replied, the redhead beginning to arouse her suspicions. Willow gave them a smile and walked away,

"lets go," Piper said, pulling Leo closer to her and allowing him to orb her out; Cole and Phoebe shimmering after them.

Willow arrived at what would soon be her old home and grabbed some candles,

"Willow, are you casting a spell?" Tara asked, walking in from the bathroom,

"yeah, urm…can you just give me a few minutes alone?" Willow said,

"sure," Tara nodded, beginning to get just as suspicious as Piper, "I'll go over to Giles's, I think we left some of our books over there," she said, picking up her jacket and heading out. The redheaded charmed one formed a circle with the candles and lit them all,

"okay, Prue, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I need to ask you something!" she stated, looking upwards. When nothing happened Willow began to blow out the candles, before they all relit themselves and little balls of light moved around in the circle,

"Willow, I just left you, what's wrong?" Prue asked, as she appeared,

"I can't do it," she replied,

"do what?" Prue questioned,

"be you," Willow replied.

"I don't understand," the spirit said,

"when I said your name, Piper had this look, like I wasn't good enough to say it, and I'm pretty sure if you said my name she wouldn't say much, maybe even just shrug," Willow explained,

"don't be stupid, Piper's just suspicious, tends to panick, it'll be okay when you get to know her," Prue assured her,

"thank you, again," Willow said,

"no problem," Prue smiled, dematerialising into the same lights she had appeared in. As soon as Prue left, orbs lit up the room, followed by shimmers, as Piper, Phoebe, Cole and Leo appeared.

"Get the demon?" Willow cheerfully asked,

"yeah," Piper replied, glancing around and spotting the candle circle, "you okay?"

"peachy," Willow said, a big smile etched into her face.

**Three Days Later**

Piper, Willow and Phoebe entered the same warehouse Willow had seen in her time travelling trip with Prue, and began looking around.

"So what did you say this demon was called?" Piper asked,

"Hydrax," Phoebe replied,

"why do demons have weird names?" Willow asked,

"god knows, but I don't think he's ever decided to share," Piper commented. That was when Willow remembered, that if the timing was right, Hydrax was about to appear behind them, and he did. She turned and threw out her hands; blasting him backwards,

"Piper freeze him!" she instructed, Piper gestured with her hands and Hydrax stopped in his tracks, giving them a chance to chant their spell:

"Wicked water in our sight,

Live no more in day nor night,

No longer may you liquefy;

These words shall make you finally die."

Hydrax roared as he exploded,

"you never know, the next demon we face might be the Source," Phoebe said,

"you never know," Piper agreed, as they turned to leave.

"You coming Willow?" Piper asked, coming to a halt and looking back to where the redhead was standing and smiling,

"yeah, sure," she replied, only then realising that they couldn't see Prue, "thank you," she mouthed to the ghostly witch, before her smile passed and she ran slightly to catch up with Piper and Phoebe.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- Tara is kidnapped by an evil witch. Willow decides she wants to learn more about her new abilities. And Piper suffers with stomach pains. **

'**There Are Two Sides To Every Craft' should be up soon. **


	3. There Are Two Sides To Every Craft

**Replies-**

**Princess Pinky: Thanks! Just to keep you on this story, lol, Willow is related to the Halliwell family, but in what way I'm not saying; you'll have to keep reading to find out ;)! I just thought I'd let you know, you're a very loyal and kinda reviewer : )! **

**Powerof4: Thanks! As I said to Princess Pinky Willow is related to the family! And Paige is gonna be in L.A. with Angel etc. so she will be shining there (not related though)! I have no idea what AIM is but the thought of talking to you was nice : )**

**Money makes me smile: Thanks! Glad you liked it! Cool? That's good : )**

**Siamese: Thanks! Glad you liked it! Glad you liked the names! I'm glad at least one person is enjoying this fic : )**

**The Pimp: That was not constructive criticism, that was just plain insults! If you don't like my story then don't read it! I'd rather have a few reviews that like my writing than loads of reviews who don't! As far as I'm concerned my characters are completely three dimensional! You may think what you're saying is gonna help me, but it's not, it's gonna put me down! And if you think you have the right to criticize fics the way you have done mine then right your own fic and lets see how good you are! And how can it be so rushed? It was long! Why would I rush something into a chapter that was long? Daft? You use the word 'daft' and then go and insult my use of language and words etc! Willow becoming a charmed one was explained in the first chapter: because she's the only witch strong enough to become one! And all the good reviewers I get for my fic series and the 4 good ones I got for this is all that matters, not your review! Now I think I've wasted enough space defending myself against you so please don't review again unless you have something nice to say! I know you meant this as constructive criticism, but that's not how I saw or took it at all!**

**The title of this chapter is a play on the saying 'there are two sides to every story'.**

**There Are Two Sides To Every Craft:**

Phoebe Halliwell shuffled along her carpet as she made her way to the dressing table at the far side of her room and scooped her dark hair up into a ponytail. Cole had shimmered in the early hours to avoid bounty hunters, leaving her to wake up alone with only a small note to explain why. She changed into jeans, a red tank top with 'this bitch bites' written in gold glitter on the front, and then she topped the outfit off with 3'inch red heels and a black, waist length, jacket.

"Hey Pheebs, goin' out?" Piper asked, walking passed the open doorway of her sister's room,

"yeah, gonna go job hunting; without Prue you're the only one bringing home money," the clairvoyant replied, heading out of her room and accompanying Piper downstairs. The eldest of the sisters wore a dark shade of a chocolate coloured leather pants, with a sand toned turtle neck and brown heeled boots, while her hair was held back by a deep brown hair glove.

"Actually, that's not true; Tara has a part time job at the fair that's in town for the week, she's a psychic," Piper explained,

"a psychic? I thought Tara didn't have any physical powers, she said she was just a wiccan practitioner," Phoebe stated,

"she is, but apparently she can read palms too!" Piper said, entering the kitchen to find Willow sitting alone at the table.

"Hey Will, Tara already gone to her new job?" Phoebe asked, as Piper refilled the redhead's cup with coffee,

"yeah, I feel kinda lonely without her," she said, her voice soft and saddened.

"Well you can come job hunting with me!" Phoebe claimed,

"sure, I've got nothing better to do," Willow said, her expression brightening up and a smile forming on her face, "then we can go to the fair and see Tara and get candyfloss!" she added, her smile growing.

"Candyfloss sounds great," Phoebe said,

"I wish I could spend the day at a fair with candyfloss but I can't, I gotta get to the club, you gonna be home for dinner?" Piper questioned, Willow and Phoebe exchanged a glance, knowing that they were both thinking the same thing; _Piper's cooking? much better than candyfloss_.

"Of course," the replied in unison,

"okay, it'll be ready by six," the brunette told them, grabbing her jacket and purse and walking through the foyer to the front door. Phoebe and Willow were about to begin their morning chat when they heard Piper scream as she was blasted over the dining table,

"demon!" they both said, running out to help their fellow charmed one. But, to their surprise, there was no demon in sight.

"Piper, what happened?" Phoebe asked,

"demon shimmered in and hit me with some kind of red laser beam," she replied,

"do you think he's still here?"

"uh huh," Willow nodded, spotting the demon standing opposite them. A beam like Piper had described shot from the demon's hand and darted straight towards Willow; who sent it back with her telekinesis and caused him to burst into flame.

"That's my demon for the day, now I really need to get to work," Piper said, picking up her purse off the floor and exiting the house,

"a demon showing up has put me off job hunting," Phoebe groaned, plopping down onto the sofa in the sitting room, "wanna go straight to the fair?" she grinned,

"I'm just gonna go check the book to find out what that demon was," Willow said, making her way towards to and up the stairs,

"everybody's a workaholic these days," Phoebe sighed, picking up Tara's green and silver, floral patterned, notebook to get to the Cosmopolitan magazine beneath it. Upon touching the notebook she was ripped from the real world and entered into the world of muddled time and psychic energy;

_Tara was tied to a chair in a tall, purple, tent; presumably her fortune telling booth, she was gagged and blindfolded and crimson was trickling from a gash on her forehead. A woman was pacing in-front of her while tapping an athame against the palm of her hand. A gold metal bra studded with jewels in a vary of colours covered her chest, red silk was fastened around her waist; flowing down before splitting into different pieces and flapping against her bronze toned skin. Her jet black hair clung together in a ponytail and hung down to the bottom of her back. Eyes like chipped crystal shone in her face and deep red lips were pursed into a sour expression, while gold earrings dangled from her ears like chandeliers from a ceiling; matching bangles ran up her arms and a pendant of drooping rubies glistened around her neck. The woman's eyes suddenly morphed from glittering to serpent-like as they became a deep shade of yellow and her pupils enlarged,_

"_help!" Tara screeched, as the woman removed the blindfold and gag. Tara's innocent look met with the woman's cold, evil, one briefly, before the wicca screamed one last time and the athame in the Xena-look-a-like's hands swiped across her throat._

Phoebe gasped as she was released back into the real world,

"Willow!" she yelled,

"what?" the youngest charmed one asked, running straight down the stairs and into the room,

"it's Tara," she replied,

"is she okay?"

"I think we have some time,"

"time for what?"

"to find out what we're up against." Willow was slightly confused at Phoebe's simple explanation but followed her up to the attic anyway.

Moments later,

"Rahna; evil enchantress from Ancient Rome who swore to eliminate the good side of witchcraft," Phoebe read, her finger tracing along the old page of their special book as she spoke,

"does it say how she was planning to do that?" Willow asked,

"a spell which involves sacrificing a wicca," Phoebe replied, suddenly realising why Rahna was specifically going to kill Tara.

"Okay, we know why she's here; what she wants, but how? how is she here if she's from Ancient Rome?" the redhead questioned,

"she used a curse to bind Nacara's immortality to her," Phoebe informed her,

"Nacara?"

"the Guardian of Witchcraft."

"Oh,"

"we better get going, we can called Piper on the way to the fair," Phoebe stated, jotting down the vanquishing spell on a piece of lined paper and folding it into her back pocket,

"we have no way of getting there! neither of us have a car!" Willow said,

"no, but Prue's car is still in the driveway; we can take that," Phoebe replied. The mention of Prue created a weak atmosphere between the two, before they headed out of the attic and Phoebe grabbed Prue's car keys from the table by the door on their way.

Meanwhile, Piper glanced over at the band having their sound check, and then went back to setting up the bar ready for the night to come. Thoughts of Leo, her family and a possible future child carried Piper into her own world, before a sharp pain struck the pit of her stomach and caused her to stumble slightly, dragging her back to the harsh world of reality,

"Piper, you okay?" Dex, the manager, asked,

"yeah, I'm fine," she lied,

"well the phone's for you," he said, hinting towards the backroom. She nodded and walked through, picking up the detachable and finding Willow's voice waiting for her on the other end of the line,

"Piper, we need you to meet us at the fair, there's an evil witch about to attack Tara," she said,

"I'll be right there," the brunette said, ending the call and taking a moment to recover from her minute of pain, before grabbing her keys and leather jacket.

By the time they had gotten to the fair and found Tara's booth, it was dark and Willow and Phoebe had discovered that Rahna had yet to attack.

"Waiting for me?" an Italian accented voice asked, as the gold-clad witch entered,

"something like that," Phoebe said, levitating as high as the tent would allow her and aiming a kick at her. Rahna grabbed the floating witch's foot before it could reach her, and used it as leverage to throw her through the tent entry and render her unconscious on the dry dirt ground. Next, Willow attacked with a telekinetic blast, but Rahna also managed to escape this by deflecting this with a red hot aura surrounding her hand; forcing Willow to the floor and resulting in her head striking the corner of the pine table behind her. Without them to protect her, Tara was left to defend herself with the mere wiccan abilities she possessed,

"alone at last," Rahna said, grinning darkly as she lifted her gold handled silver blade and marched towards Willow's beloved. Tara attempted to conjure up a spell, but failed as Rahna closed in on her and created cloth bindings around her eyes, mouth and wrists, the immortal witch held her athame in the air and began to chant:

"Enemy, energy, call the power,

Release your essence,

I summon Hecate,

Except my wiccan sacrifice,

Bless me with your magic."

A breeze travelled through the tent, and just as it began to pick up into a strong wind it died down and disappeared,

"damnit," she cursed, her eyes flashing gold as she began to pace; tapping the athame against her hand. Suddenly, Rahna sensed power in the room and assumed her spell was taking affect, but her assumption proved wrong as she was blasted across the room and looked up to see Piper walking in.

"I can give as good as I get," Rahna hissed, shooting a ball of hot, scarlet, energy from her hand,

"I can freeze as good as you give," Piper said, stopping the sphere in it's tracks and blowing it up.

"Powerful little witch," Rahna growled, her eyes turning yellow with fury,

"this powerful little witch is about to get a whole lot more powerful," Piper stated, as Phoebe and Willow regained consciousness within seconds of each other and joined her side.

"Got a spell?" she asked, Phoebe replied but unfolding a piece of paper she took from her pocket and holding it so all three of them could see;

"Here we stand, the power of three,

Let go of your immortality,

Your power shall end in our sight,

One final look and die this night."

Rahna's eyes opened wide as she screamed out in horror and flames consumed her body; burning her to a sculpture of ash that collapsed to the floor,

"Tara, that god your okay," Willow said, as she untied her girlfriend and pressed a kiss to her head. Piper tried to hide her agony as another pain sparked inside of her,

"what's wrong?" Phoebe asked,

"nothing, just a little stomach cramp," the molecular based witch replied, giving a small fake smile.

The following morning, Willow was sitting on the attic floor with the Book of Shadows in-front of her,

"what you doing up here?" Tara asked, joining her on the floor,

"researching," the redhead replied,

"researching what?"

"me, well the charmed ones; the power of three, everything that's been and that's to come, I want to know what I've entered us into, what our lives are going to be from now on." Tara smiled and held her lover close, kissing her softly before letting her go and watching as she made notes from the book.

On the second floor of the house, Piper was experiencing her fifth stomach pain in the last nine hours and was struggling to make her way down the stairs. She let out a small shriek as she clutched her abdomen and tumbled down to the bottom step,

"Piper!" Phoebe cried, running straight down the stairs; nearly falling herself, and checking for a pulse in her sister.

"Is she okay?" Willow asked, following her down with Tara,

"I don't know, we need Leo," Phoebe stated,

"he said the Elders would be blocking his calls while he's in the meeting with them," Tara said,

"then we need to get her to a hospital."

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- A life is lost in the hospital, but who's? And what will follow the loss of another family member?**

'**Enough Is Enough' should be up soon.**


	4. Enough Is Enough

**Replies-**

**The-Cheese-Fairy: Thanks! Glad ya liked it! He _will _eat his words ;)**

**Princess Pinky: Thanks! Glad you liked it! The plot is going to thicken in this chapter ;)! But this fic is set over seasons 4 and 5 of charmed so it will change quite a lot, and if I do a sequel (which I _really_ wanna do so I hope people will eventually want one) then that will be seasons 6 and 7! Yeah, Phoebe sort of got a power advancement, but her premonitions won't always be in colour, which will be more important in a later chapter! Willow's relation isn't revealed until about chapter 20-24, sorry : ) **

**Enough Is Enough:**

Tears coursed down Phoebe's face as she feared for her sister's health, they had arrived at the hospital just ten minutes ago and Piper was now being rushed to the accident and emergency unit.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Willow asked the doctor, almost tasting her own sadness and fear,

"we'll do everything we can," he promised, checking Piper's weak pulse for a second time before leaving the two charmed ones and Tara in the family waiting room.

"Do you think her 'stomach cramps' have anything to do with this?" Willow said,

"or maybe the demon you told me about from yesterday morning," Tara suggested,

"good thinking, did you find out what the demon was?" Phoebe questioned,

"no, I managed to find him in the book but you screamed for me before I could read anything," the redhead replied.

"Well I'm gonna go back to the manor, find out about that guy, and kill every living member of his demonic family if he's responsible for hurting my sister," Phoebe told them, her former look of sadness morphing into one of anger and confidence,

"I'll go with you, the power of two's better than the power of one," Willow said, standing up and walking over to her fellow witch,

"I'll call your cell phone when the doctors know what's happening," Tara informed Phoebe, who nodded in thanks and then walked away with Willow in tow. Tara sat alone, thinking of when she had lost her own mother, and then the Halliwells' had lost their mother, and grandmother, and sister, and now there was something wrong with Piper, were they going to lose her too? She sure hoped not, in the couple of weeks she and Willow had lived at the manor they had both taken a liking to Piper, Phoebe and Leo, and they didn't plan on losing their new friends yet, if at all.

Not much later, Phoebe was standing at the Book of Shadows while Willow whipped up a vary of potions,

"Essence Thieves," the clairvoyant read, "Essence Thieves have the ability to absorb a life essence through a scarlet blast known as an essence funnel. Once the life essence is absorbed through the funnel the Thieves must wait twenty-four hours for all remains of the essence to disappear from it's original embodiment before strengthening themselves with the stolen life."

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Willow asked,

"kill the King and every essence his thieves have stolen is released," Phoebe replied,

"well that's good," Willow said,

"wait, you didn't let me finish; every essence his thieves have stolen is released into the afterlife," Phoebe told her.

"So either way they die," Willow murmured,

"not if we can help it, it says the original asorber of the essence has the power to restore it, or we could just call Leo" Phoebe said, "we're gonna need a spell to summon a whitelighter, if he can't come to us his way then he'll come our way,"

"can we even write a spell to do that? won't the Elders be mad?" Willow said,

"they will, but right now I don't care."

A few minutes and three failed spells later, Phoebe and Willow had finally written a chant they were sure would work,

"Angel from up above,

We call you down to heal your love,

Release your light in this day,

Bring Piper back and let her stay."

Orbs blossomed in the air and became Leo,

"Piper's hurt, we'll explain on the way," Phoebe said,

"on the way to where?" he asked,

"the hospital," she replied, heading towards the door only to be blocked off my a tall, skinny, essence thief. His bald head and fancy black suit made him look like a lawyer of sorts, while the energy ball in his palm showed him for the creature he really was,

"Leo, orb you and Willow to San Francisco memorial and heal Piper," Phoebe instructed,

"I'm not leaving you to fight these guys alone," Willow objected,

"just go, I've got your potions and the book, I can take them," Phoebe said, Willow hesitantly agreed and allowed Leo to orb her out. The essence thief in the doorway threw his energy ball, only for it to strike the being behind Phoebe as she used her levitation as leverage to avoid the attack,

"the clocks ticking Miss Halliwell, soon enough your sister shall die," another of the thieves hissed,

"not on my watch," Phoebe said, swinging a spin kick into his chest and grabbing two potions; one blue and one green, from the table behind her. Both vials shattered against his shoulder like glass bottles on a hardwood floor, however, they caused him no pain and he simply dabbed his finger into the mixture and licked it off,

"umm, tasty," he chuckled. With one swift movement his released an energy ball which skimmed passed Phoebe's right bicep and tore the sleeve of her tight red shirt,

"you owe me fifteen bucks for that," she stated, grabbing another potion; this time one a deep shade of orange, and smashing it at his feet. This appeared to be one which finally caused pain; spreading acidic burns across his skin,

"where's your king?" Phoebe questioned, holding another of the potions right next to his face,

"I'll never tell you," he snarled, she sighed and pulled the cork out of the potion, pouring the liquid over his head and stepping backwards as he exploded into a fiery bang.

"Any of you wanna tell me where your king is?" she asked, grabbing two potions in each hand; three of them being orange, and turning to the essence thieves standing behind her,

"I'm right here," an unnaturally muscular essence thief said. His brown hair hung down passed his ear lobes, while thick layers of leather covered his body and black gloves which had silver spikes on the top hid his hands.

"Send my sister's essence back!" Phoebe ordered, vanquishing one of the lower level thieves with a potion,

"you are mistaken little witch, I do not have your sister's essence, but your niece however…" he replied,

"niece?" Phoebe repeated, before the realisation that Piper was, or at least had, in fact been pregnant at the time of the attack yesterday.

"Let her go," Phoebe said, her voice strong yet weak with sorrow,

"I can't, you vanquished the demon who absorbed her essence, only he had the power to send it back, you're simply stuck Miss Halliwell," he explained. Phoebe levitated again and aimed a blow at the King's head, but he grabbed her ankle and threw her into the wall in-front.

"You won't win this battle, I'll take your life and the power of three will be diminished," he told her, shooting an essence funnel,

"or how bout I take your life instead," she spat, rolling out of the way of the beam and kicking the table over. Scatters of smashed glass and potion stains blobbed all over the floor and created a storm of flames, smoke and sparks; making the demons explode like erupting volcanoes.

Meanwhile, Leo and Willow were sitting back in the waiting room with Tara,

"I don't understand why I couldn't heal her," he said,

"maybe it's because her essence is slowly leaving her body," Willow said, a sincere pout on her lips as she rubbed his arm in comfort,

"it's not her essence," Phoebe said, walking in and closing the door behind her,

"what do you mean?" Leo asked. Phoebe thought for a moment at how she was going to tell him what was happening and then sat down opposite him on the wooden coffee table,

"I'm sorry honey, but Piper is…well was…" she began,

"was what?" he questioned,

"pregnant," she replied, "it isn't Piper's essence that was drained, it's the baby's, and there's no reversal, but I've made sure that she goes to the happy place, rather than to the underworld where her power will be used as a battery for the essence thieves." Tears glistened in Leo's eyes,

"Mrs Halliwell is awake, but there were some complications, please come through," the nurse said, stepping in and then back out again, the four of them following behind.

"Piper, remember the stomach pains you were telling me about, well you were in fact having a miscarriage, I'm terribly sorry," the doctor informed her, Piper instantly burst into tears, leaving Leo to hold her in his arms,

"we're afraid there's news which is possibly, if not definitely, worse," the doctor continued,

"go ahead," Phoebe nodded, from where she, Willow and Tara stood beside Piper's bed, on the opposite side to Leo,

"Mrs Halliwell, we're sorry to say that you have tissue scarring; this can be caused by a number of blows to abdomen or something else, but it looks like this may have been your only chance to have a child, my deepest condolences," he explained. More tears streamed down Piper's face,

"I think we should give them some time alone," Tara said, glancing from Piper and Leo to Willow and Phoebe. The female trio exited the room with the doctor not far behind,

"I can't imagine how they must feel," Phoebe said, as they returned to the waiting room,

"if only there was something we could do," Willow said, bowing her head in dismay.

That night, Piper lay alone in her hospital room. It was getting late and the moon was shining brightly in the sky, her thoughts had drifted to what life would have been like if she hadn't lost her baby;

_She and Leo were in the garden of the manor, a little girl, around the age of two, was running around chasing a butterfly._

"_Pru, don't chase the butterfly," Leo said in a childish tone, scooping his daughter up,_

"_I'd rather she chased it than blew it up," Piper joked, smiling at their child and pulling playfully on her dark pigtails. _

"You can have that life Piper," a voice said, "and you know what you have to do to get it,"

"mom?" Piper whispered, the voice didn't reply, "I have to give up my powers," Piper murmured.

At the manor, Phoebe; now dressed in grey sweatpants, oversized white wool socks and a purple tank top, was cleaning the mess in the attic with help from Willow and Tara, while Cole had taken Leo to P3 to get his mind off the miscarriage. Willow; wearing red shorts and a baggy purple sweater, picked up some glass and tossed it the plastic bag Tara; who wore a long red skirt and a creamy yellow cardigan sweater, was holding.

"It's gonna take forever to get these potion marks off," Phoebe moaned,

"I'm sure there's some kind of cleaning spell in the book," Willow said,

"wouldn't that come under personal gain?" Tara asked,

"after the day we've had I think a little personal gain would do us good," Phoebe said, walking over to the book and flipping it open.

"You were right, here's a spell," she stated, brushing her hands against her thighs before chanting:

"Let the object of objection,

Become but a dream,

As I cause the seen to be unseen."

A river of lights travelled across the floor and erased the stains which the potions had created,

"abra kadabra," Willow smiled, clicking her fingers and telekinetically closing the book as they left.

The following morning, Piper; dressed in jeans and a sleeveless black turtle neck, returned home and gathered her family in the conservatory to tell them her plans,

"magic has only ever created loss and pain in our life, it took mom away, it took Prue away, and now I've found it's taken my only chance to have a baby away. I don't want to have to lose anybody else, I don't wanna lose my husband or my sister or my friends, that's why I'm doing this," she said, her eyes beginning to fill up as she spoke,

"doing what Piper?" Phoebe questioned,

"giving up my powers, I've had enough, I quit, I'm done with being a charmed one," she replied, turning around and walking away,

"but what about the power of three?" Phoebe called after her,

"screw the power of three," Piper shouted back, heading into the kitchen and slamming the door behind her.

"Hey guys, what's up with Aunt Piper?" a teenage girl, around the age of fourteen or fifteen, asked, glossy black hair sitting on her shoulders as she walked in. Dressed in a short denim skirt, black flat boots and a black sweater, the teen approached her other 'aunt', her 'uncle', and the two former Sunnydale survivors, and sat opposite them.

"Not now Patty," Phoebe warned,

"whatever, I'm going up to my room," the girl muttered, stomping upstairs.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- The power of two proves useless against the demons, so Phoebe and Willow make a last minute bid to get Piper back on side. Patty tries to summon her mother Prue. And Piper decides that in order for her to truly escape her magical life she must move out. **

'**Two Out Of Three' should be up soon. **


	5. Truth Calling

**The title of this chapter has changed and is also a play on the great show 'Tru Calling'.**

**Reply- : ( **

**Princess Pinky: Thanks! Glad you liked it! Patty is the teenage daughter of Prue and Andy and no, you haven't missed anything, but all will be revealed in time…; ) **

**Truth Calling:**

"We need to face the facts, the power of two just won't do," Phoebe said, as she limped away from the scorched remains of their latest demon; Willow staggering behind her.

"So what are we gonna do?" the redhead asked,

"try and persuade Piper, again," the clairvoyant replied, her light brown hair blowing back in the breeze as they walked towards the car formerly belonging to Prue; which Phoebe had finally decided that she wanted.

The following morning, Patty lay on her bed writing in her diary. Her extremely dark brown hair showering down on her face as she; dressed in a pink dressing gown, furry blue slippers and pink cotton pyjamas, scribbled down her latest feelings in the purple book she hid her secrets in:

_Dear Diary, as I said two days ago; my aunt Piper has quit. She's given up on magic; something my mom told me to never do shortly before her death. But lately, I feel like I'm with strangers, or rather _I'm_ the stranger. I wish I could tell you more but I've gotta rush, my stupid _ex_-favourite aunt is calling me._

"Patricia I said breakfast is ready!" Piper impatiently yelled up the stairs, storming back into the kitchen and sitting down at the table; holding her head in her hands as she let out a frustrated groan.

"Piper, are you okay?" Tara asked, walking in, Piper turned around and her look answered everything. Wearing a long, flower print, purple, skirt and a long-sleeved, navy blue, sweater; Tara sat down just as Piper stood up. The brunette was about to make herself a cup of coffee when she completely missed her cup and spilt it all down her denim skirt and purple v-neck, meaning the only item of clothing, which she was wearing, dry was her thin heeled black boots.

"This day sucks," she growled, dabbing at her damp clothes and gritting her teeth as the boiling liquid blazed against her skin,

"maybe some magic will help with that," Phoebe said, walking in and plopping onto one of the stools.

"Don't start Phoebe," Piper warned,

"I'm just saying, your life wasn't this bad when you used your powers," the younger of the sisters argued,

"you're right, it was worse," Piper said, turning to face her sister and then walking away.

"Let me guess, you mentioned magic," Patty sighed, walking passed Piper and entering the kitchen,

"yes, I did, and it looks like she's made a definite decision to stop using hers, forever," Phoebe replied,

"we can't just give up; quitters never prosper," Willow argued, taking a seat next to Tara.

"I agree," Patty said, through a mouthful of her chocolate chip pancake,

"so what do we do?" Tara asked,

"I think I have an idea," Phoebe said, heading upstairs and then walking back down with the book of shadows.

"Are you sure this will work?" Willow questioned, moments later,

"I'm positive, it says the spell is to see the truth, so with it I should be able to find out how Piper really feels; how she _truthfully_ feels," Phoebe replied, before sitting cross-legged on the floor and casting the spell from the book, which was set in-front of her:

"Hidden things that hide and scare,

I know that you are really there,

So let this spell just show me where."

Phoebe momentarily slipped into a shallow slumber and then awoke to find her surroundings in a strange shade of darkness,

"hey guys, I think it worked," she said, turning to see Willow and Tara staring blankly at her, while Patty was nowhere to be seen. She went upstairs and reached out to knock on Piper's door, before something down the hall caught her attention; Patty's door wasn't there, it was just the wall, and where her door had once been there was now a picture of Prue hung. Phoebe continued to look around and found that Patty's baby book was empty, and found a framed photograph of what would normally show Prue pregnant at the age of 16, which now still showed Prue but minus her baby bump,

"Piper! Willow!" she yelled, still clutching the photo. By the time she heard footsteps on the stairs, everything was back to it's normal colour and the spell was over,

"what is it?" Willow asked, "did you find Piper?"

"no, I think she's out, but I did find something else," Phoebe replied, glaring at Patty as she and Tara walked up behind the youngest charmed one.

"Aunt Phoebe are you okay?" the teen asked,

"never been better," she replied, her eyes focused in a dark stare, "I'm going to get dressed," she said, keeping her eyes on Patty until she entered her room.

Twenty minutes after walking into her room, Phoebe walked out; now dressed in black leather pants, a three-quarter length sleeved yellow top, and black boots, with a dark beaded choker that had a yellow rose on it around her neck, and her hair pinned up with the front bit in thin curls. She walked straight passed Willow and Tara without saying a word, then made her way through the attic and grabbed the book,

"what're you looking for?" Patty asked, walking in and brushing down her black skirt and blue halter neck as some dust sprinkled down on her from the ceiling,

"you actually," Phoebe replied, still focused on the book,

"okay, now you're starting to scare me, why would I be in the book of shadows?" Patty said, beginning to assume that her aunt was possessed or something and quietly picking up an athame from the table not far from the door.

"Shouldn't I be the one using that on you?" Phoebe said, slowly turning around,

"what are you?" Patty questioned,

"a Halliwell," she replied, running forward as the adrenalin pumped through her body and she kicked Patty in the jaw with a boost from her levitation.

"No you're not, you're some kind of demon pretending to be one," Patty argued, using her only power of telepathy to connect with Phoebe's mind and channel her levitation power into herself,

"I don't know what or who you are, but get the hell out of my house!" Phoebe commanded, running forward and knocking Patty down to the ground.

"Phoebe, what is wrong with you?" Willow questioned, as she and Tara burst through the door,

"she's not human!" the precognitive exclaimed, pointing at Patty as she stood up,

"we know, she's a witch," Tara calmly said,

"no, you don't understand, when I cast the truth spell she wasn't there, every trace of her had been erased, she's not real!" Phoebe explained,

"uh Pheebs, maybe you should have some camomile tea, y'know, to calm yourself down," Willow suggested.

"If you don't believe me then I'll find someone who will," Phoebe firmly said, storming out through the door,

"are you okay?" Tara asked, as she and Willow helped Patty up,

"yeah, I think so, but is she?"

"we don't know sweetie, losing your mom and now your aunt Piper leaving is tough on her, we just have to give her some space, let her sort out what's real and what's not real in her own head," Willow told her, walking over to the window and watching as Phoebe pulled out of the driveway in her car.

Meanwhile, Piper was on the other side of town looking around an available apartment,

"Mrs Halliwell, we have several other offers, so if you're interested I'd advice you to let me know straight away," the estate agent; Mrs Nicholas, said.

"Sure, I understand, I just need to call my husband and ask him," Piper informed her,

"of course, I'll be outside if you need me," Mrs Nicholas informed her, walking out from the apartment,

"Leo!" Piper called,

"hey, is something wrong?" he asked, orbing in.

"No, I just need your opinion, do you like this place?" she replied, glancing around,

"sure, but I don't see what's wrong with the manor, besides, all six, well seven including Cole, aren't gonna fit in here," he said,

"it's not for the seven of us, it's for the two of us, when I said I wanted magic out of my life I meant it," she told him,

"I don't know Piper, I don't think we should be moving out so soon, you've hardly even slept on this decision," he objected,

"I've made my mind up Leo, and not you, Phoebe, Willow or any demon is going to change my decision," she said, then, as if on cue, a crash from outside the door led them to run out into the hallway and find Mrs Nicholas with her head in a puddle of her own blood.

"Now do you see why I want to move out so bad?" she snapped, blowing up the attacking demon as she breezed through the corridor, her fists clenched and her teeth ground together.

As night came, Phoebe returned to the manor with Cole at her side,

"Phoebe, are you sure you want to kill your niece?" he asked,

"I told you, she's not my niece," Phoebe replied,

"yes I am!" a voice said, as Patty came down the stairs.

"Get her!" she yelled, suddenly, Willow jumped out from the sitting room and flung the couple across the room, before Tara ran out from the kitchen and blew glittery blue dust over them; creating sky coloured light bindings around them.

"Cole shimmer us out of here!" Phoebe ordered,

"I can't," he replied,

"fine, I'll get out by myself," she said, thinking up a spell:

"A magic dust created this trouble,

Trapping us two beings double,

Led to by my finding,

Let me go, So I may know,

What my niece is hiding."

A burst of bright white lights swallowed Phoebe and destroyed the mystical chains; releasing Cole.

Phoebe reappeared in some kind of warehouse in the Bay Area, and only when she looked forward did she realize she was right behind another woman. A small red dress and matching heels clothed the woman, and gold toned curls sat atop her shoulders,

"where did you hide my key?" she questioned, poking at the monk tied to a chair in-front of her with an athame.

"I've got plenty of keys, ya want one?" Phoebe said, the woman turned and suppressed a laugh when she saw Phoebe,

"and what are you, the slayer?" she smirked,

"worse, I'm charmed," the witch replied, pitting a levitating kick to the presumed demon's stomach.

"It's a good job I'm not ticklish otherwise I'd be laughing right now," the woman told her, before grabbing the clairvoyant's throat and tossing her across the room,

"help me," the monk pleaded,

"shut it holy guy," the blonde snapped, glancing at him before turning back to Phoebe.

"Who the hell are you?" Phoebe hissed,

"Glory, and you are?" the stranger cockily replied,

"the witch who's about to kick your ass," Phoebe said, before saying a made-up spell:

"I call upon the power of three,

To blast this woman and set me free."

A swirl of blue appeared by Phoebe and threw Glory across the room, giving the potential flyer the chance to grab the monk and escape. Glory stamped her foot when she found the heel of her shoe had broken off from Phoebe's blast, and accidentally release a crack through the floor and destroyed the support beams; causing the ceiling to collapse down on her.

Outside, Phoebe was pulling the monk along as fast as she could, but he couldn't go any further and slouched against a wire fence,

"go," he instructed,

"I'm not leaving without you," she said,

"my journey's done," he told her.

"No, it's not, we need to get far away from here and your journey can continue," Phoebe said,

"you have to…the key, you must protect the key," he ordered, before letting out a sore cough,

"fine, we can protect the key together," she told him,

"many more will die if you don't keep it safe," he simply said.

"How? what is the Key?" she asked,

"the Key is energy; a portal, it opens the door…" he began,

"like a little normal key?" she said,

"no, for centuries it had no form at all, my brethren were it's only keepers, then the abomination found us. We had to hide the key, gave it form, moulded it flesh…made it human and sent it to your family," he explained.

"Patty…" she murmured,

"we knew the charmed ones would protect it," he said,

"but the memories…" she stated,

"we built them," he told her,

"then un-build them, none of us asked for this," she objected,

"you cannot abondon,"

"I didn't ask for this! I don't even know…what is she?"

"human…now human, and helpless, she's an innocent in this and she needs you,"

"she's not my niece," a tear began to form in her eye,

"she doesn't know that," he said, and then he exhaled one last breath and passed away, leaving Phoebe in a state of shock.

She arrived back at the manor and found the place in silence, all except sobs which were echoing down from the attic. Phoebe walked up there and passed her room, Piper's room and Willow's room; seeing everyone asleep, then she headed up to the attic and found Patty scrunched up on the floor with tears flowing from her eyes,

"what's wrong sweetie?" Phoebe asked, taking the teen in her arms.

"You don't want to kill me?" Patty whispered,

"no, I understand now," Phoebe whispered back, "now tell me what's wrong," but Phoebe already knew what was wrong; the candle of lit circles and the open book of shadows told it all.

"I tried to summon her, but I couldn't, it wouldn't work, I just wanted to….to see her…" Patty cried,

"I know, I know," Phoebe soothed, stroking her niece's hair.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- The Elders offer the family a deal; they'll tell them everything they know about Glory, if Piper rejoins the power of three. Phoebe tells Piper about Patty in hopes of it persuading her to back to their charmed destiny. And Glory sets out to find the Key.**

"**A Glorificus Day" should be up soon**


	6. A Glorificus Day

**This chapter is shorter than I hoped it would be, but I had quite a bit of writers block, so that's why it's shorter than the other chapters (I think) and that's why the end part is rubbish.**

**Replies:**

**Princess Pinky- Thanks! Glad you liked it! Do (did) you watch Buffy? Or do you just know about Dawn another way? Willow is related in two ways now, one will be revealed in chapter 9 I think, and the other in chapter 20 something maybe! You're not gonna see Paige in action for a while sorry!**

**Moonfirefairy: Thanks! Glad you liked it!**

**Whitelighter Yoz: Thanks! Glad you liked it!**

**A Glorificus Day:**

Willow pulled a liquorice black sweater over her head as she trudged down the stairs to look for her girlfriend. After popping her head into each of the rooms on the ground floor, she eventually found Tara standing at the sink in the kitchen,

"it's six in the morning, why aren't you in bed?" the redhead groaned,

"I have slept, I just thought it would be nice to watch the sunrise," the wicca replied, her eyes not moving from the orange blaze in the sky that they had formerly become focused on.

"You should have woke me up, then we could have watched it together," Willow said, entwining her arms around her lover's waist and resting her head on the blonde's shoulder,

"I hope Patty's gonna be okay, Phoebe going all 'Kill Bill' on her hasn't exactly helped," the charmed one in the couple stated. It had been almost a week since Patty had tried to summon Prue and Phoebe had learnt the truth about her niece, and even though everybody knew of the attempted spirit conjuring; nobody knew about Patty being the Key, not even the teen herself.

"Hmm, things will get easier for them," Tara assured her, turning away from the glowing bulb in the sky,

"maybe, but I'm not so sure about Piper, she's pretty set on this 'giving up magic' gig," Willow pointed out,

"everything happens for a reason," the wicca reminded, moving over to the table and taking a seat. Her long skirt, which had a green and turquoise shimmer pattern decorating it, ruffled slightly as it pressed against the seat, while the sleeves of her lime sweater slid down her arms as she rested her chin on her hands.

"You okay sweetie?" Willow asked, concern shading her voice as she sat alongside her love, a frown bubbling onto her face while she did so, Tara didn't reply, but what she did do was walk over to her cardigan that hung on the chair opposite.

"What's this?" the redhead questioned, as Tara handed her a sandpaper brown envelope which was folded in half,

"it's from my dad," she gingerly replied,

"what does it say?"

"just read it," Tara said quietly, sitting back down and bowing her head slightly. Willow nodded and slid the letter out, rubbing her hand across it to straighten out the wrinkles, before beginning to read;

_Dear Tara. You have always known of the legend that haunted your mother, that on their twentieth birthday, the women of her bloodline will become full-fledged demons. And I know that your birthday has just passed, so maybe I'm sending this too late, but if you are reading this then I hope it is in a human form not a demonic one._

_Signed Mr Maclay_

"But your birthday was four days ago, and you're not a demon, so what is this about?" Willow said,

"I'm guessing it was just a lie to keep him in control of my mother, he always did like being boss," Tara replied softly,

"I can kinda see that, with the whole 'Mr Maclay' thing." Tara just nodded glumly and they stood to make them some coffee, leaving Willow to just watch as her girlfriend continued on as normal. It appeared, that Willow saw this as a big deal, but Tara was still the soft, harmless, wicca who wanted nothing more than a nice, easy, life of butterflies and rainbows, and who also never used her power to it's full, both offensive and defensive, potential.

Meanwhile, a middle aged, almost overweight, man ran as fast as he could, only to find himself at a dead end. Two feet, each baring a red, sling back, high heel, stepped forward and glimmered in the moonlight,

"please don't hurt me," the man begged, sounding like a young child pleading the monsters under their bed.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just gonna take a little taste," Glory told him, a glow hiding the connection as her fingers entered the sides of the man's head. The man screamed and then this passed as she freed her fingers from his head,

"don't go to crazy now," she smirked, brushing down her crimson pinstripe pants and matching top, walking away.

Later that morning, Piper slid some paracetamol down her throat to ease the blunt agony of her migraine,

"I could heal that for you," a voice said. Even though the voice seemed light, orderly, and even quite friendly, Piper assumed it's possessor as a threat and turned with her hands raised. Dressed in a snow white and gold robe, with a ring of greying hair atop his head, the stranger looked like some kind of angelic priest.

"What are you?" she questioned,

"an Elder," he answered, a small, yet proud, smile taking over his lips. Standing still with shock, Piper was sure she could feel the floor on her chin as she stared,

"demon!" Phoebe screeched, running forward as she entered the doorway, and flying straight through the elderly being as he broke apart into orbs.

"Whoa, since when could demons orb?" Phoebe asked, walking over to Piper with both her ego and her butt likely to be bruised,

"he's not a demon," Piper replied,

"y'know, the way he was dressed is kinda how I imagine an…" the clairvoyant began,

"Elder," the heavenly lord finished, orbing back in. Phoebe's jaw fell equally as far as Piper's had, as the Elder slowly approached them,

"what do you want?" Piper asked coldly,

"to offer you a deal," he explained.

"I don't care about any deal you or any other magical creature has to offer me, I've said to before and I'll say it again; I am done with being charmed," Piper said, throwing the dishcloth in her hands to Phoebe and storming off,

"if that's true then why was your first reaction to use your powers on me?" the Elder asked, causing her to stop at the door,

"I said I'm done," she said, both softly and sternly, not even turning around, then her pace erupted once again and her heels clicked along the floor, accompanying her walk.

"What's your offer?" Phoebe simply questioned, nodding for him to go ahead,

"I, well we, shall give you all the information we have on the beast known as Glorificus, if your sister will rejoin the power of three," the Elder told her,

"you've never made us give you something in return for information before," she stated,

"actually, you vanquishing the demons and saving the innocents is how you repay us, by keeping the balance in order and doing the work of the greater good," he said.

"But without Piper we can't do that properly, so we can't repay you, so you won't give us the info we need," she realised,

"correct," he nodded.

"Midas, why are you here? is something wrong?" Leo asked, after orbing in,

"I'm here to make an offer to your family," the Elder replied,

"and not a very fair deal at that," Phoebe added, "we can't control the decisions that Piper makes, and without her making the decision you want, we won't find out about Glory, how is that for the greater good?"

"I have an idea," another Elder said, appearing from the lights all of her kind possessed,

"and what may that be?" Midas asked the female newcomer,

"we shall give you all of our information on Glory, if you can prove you are capable to fight demons without the complete power of three," she, mainly known as Bethel, replied.

"We'll do it," Phoebe told them, without any hesitation,

"but aren't you even gonna think about this?" Leo asked,

"just go get Tara and Willow, I'll get Patty," she instructed, heading out of the room.

On her way to Patty's room, Phoebe stopped and turned towards Pipers,

"sweetie, it's me, can I come in?" she called, knocking in the door,

"if you want to take about the Elders and their deal, then no," Piper said back,

"I don't," Phoebe replied. Everything turned silent before Phoebe heard shuffling around inside and then the door opened,

"come in," Piper invited, leading her sister over to sit on the bed.

"Remember when I told you all that Glory was after something called the Key?" Phoebe said, Piper just nodded,

"well, the Key…it's human…it's…god I can't even say it," she said, standing up and rubbing her forehead with her hand,

"just tell me Phoebe," Piper told her,

"it's Patty," Phoebe murmured softly,

"looks like I'm not the only one that needs to get away from magic then," Piper stubbornly decided, practically pushing Phoebe through the door and closing it behind her.

"God help me," the molecular based witch whispered, leaning back against the door.

In Glory's plush, very ladylike, penthouse, the blonde lay on her fluffy pink, gold and scarlet bed while her disfigured looking minions tidied the room.

"The Key, do any of you have an idea where it is?" she asked,

"no, most beautiful and wonderful one," most of them replied, in unison,

"whatever, worthless creatures," she muttered, standing up and unzipping the back of her tight red dress, dropping it from her slender body as if nobody was there and walking through to the shower.

Not much later, Phoebe, Tara, Willow, Leo, Patty, Cole, Midas, Bethel and seven whitelighters were gathered in the basement,

"what are they here for?" Phoebe asked, eyeing the guardian angels suspiciously,

"they, will pose as the demons, one for each of you, even you Leo and Cole," Bethel replied. Even though she was an Elder, Bethel seemed quite friendly and nice, she looked quite a bit younger than Midas, but it was obvious she was one of the most powerful.

"Who's the seventh for?" but Willow's question was answered when one of the whitelighters glamoured into a hooded figure,

"the Source," Phoebe whispered, the whitelighter nodded.

"Lets get started," Midas said, emphasizing his point with a small clap, before he orbed out,

"we'll be watching you," Bethel reminded, orbing after him. The first whitelighter, a male with blond spiky hair and broad shoulders and chest, marched toward Leo, who pushed him to the ground with the power of his fist,

"Leo, didn't know ya had in ya," Cole said, giving his friend a pat on the back before throwing an energy ball at his own whitelighter enemy; a black haired Asian-American.

"Patty, you take the short brunette, Tara, you take the other brunette, Willow, you take the blonde, and I'll take the redhead," Phoebe told them, her eyes travelling between each of the four whitelighter women as she made her orders. The Short Brunette formed a glittering light ball in each hand which led Patty to telepathically clone this ability and create her own, conjuring up a battle of sparkling spheres. While this was going on, Tara was summoning all of her power, well what she said was most of her power, for both offensive and defensive against the Brunette.

"I've always wanted to fight a whitelighter," Phoebe said, positioning herself into a fighting stance,

"hey!" Leo exclaimed,

"sorry Leo, I meant a whitelighter other than you," she added, before lifting into the air and kicking the Redhead square in her jaw.

"What the hell is going on down here?" Piper yelled, charging down the stairs and stopping halfway when she saw that they had company,

"_I've got an idea, just play along_," Patty telepathically said, to her family (par Piper) and the whitelighters,

"are you just gonna stand there? it's the Source!" the teen claimed,

"I've been married to a whitelighter for nearly a year, I think I know one when I see one," Piper said, blowing the 'Source' into a flurry of orbs, and then doing the same to the others.

"Great, we've failed," Patty moaned,

"how are we gonna find out about Glory now?" Willow asked,

"we'll get it out of the Elders _our_ way," Phoebe replied,

"to me that sounds like it involves breaking lots of rules," Leo said,

"screw the rules," Phoebe replied.

"Fine," Leo said, taking hold of her hand and Willow's, while Tara also took Willow's, and Patty took Tara's and Cole's and then Phoebe also took Cole's to complete a circle,

"lets get going then," Cole said, as Leo orbed them all out.

"What do you think you are doing Leo?" Midas hissed,

"helping my family," he replied,

"tell us about Glory," Phoebe commanded,

"you failed our task," Bethel stated, revealing her true 'no rules broken' attitude that all Elders had.

"Tell us," Cole threatened, holding an energy ball in his palm,

"that won't kill us," Bethel told him, with a glare,

"now I advise you all get out of here," Midas growled,

"we'll go when you tell us what you know," Willow said, taking lead as she stepped forward and her eyes turned black.

"And you call yourself charmed," Bethel spat,

"I'm more charmed than you," Willow responded,

"she's more charm_ing_ too," Patty added,

"there's six of us…" Phoebe began, before more Elders began to come forward, "just tell us what you know about Glory and we'll never come up here again," she simply said, glancing around out the surrounding whiteness.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Midas muttered, nodding to Bethel as a sign for her to tell them,

"finally, so this Glory, what kind of demon is she?" Phoebe asked,

"Glorificus is not a demon, she's a god," Bethel explained, causing a ripple of shock to move throughout the family.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- Phoebe casts a spell to restore Piper's faith in magic, resulting in her big sister getting an unexpected visitor…Meanwhile, Patty becomes suspicious when her family suddenly stops talking about the Key when she's around, after Phoebe tells them. And Glory becomes second priority as the Source plans an attack.**

'**Shoot The Messenger' should be up soon.**


	7. Shoot The Messenger

**Disclaimer: Hehe, I've never done one of these before, but I have a reason to. I own the name and character Trudence and the character Patty, plus everything/everyone else whom you do not recognise from Buffy or Charmed. **

**Right, yeah, I know this is a quick update, but this chapter just seemed to flow and I think it's good, even though it's not that long.**

**Replies- **

**Princess Pinky: Thanks! Glad you liked it! Well I'm glad your not opposing another chapter cos here one is! lol **

**Shoot The Messenger:**

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Phoebe asked for a third time, clutching the ruby potion in her hand,

"I'm positive," the red and black demon in-front of her replied,

"okay then, say bye, bye, Belthazor," she said, throwing the vial in her hand and watching as flames consumed him. The precognitive shielded her eyes from the heat and light that the fire was releasing, before pulling her hand away to see that only Cole remained, balancing weakly on his knees,

"I'm human," he murmured,

"you're human," she nodded, a smile growing on her face as she ran over and wrapped her arms around him when he stood up.

"You know, just because you're not a demon anymore, doesn't mean we can't live in sin," she said seductively, he grinned and then paused,

"I forgot I can't shimmer us to our room," he chuckled,

"you'll get used to it eventually," she promised, planting a kiss on his lips as they walked from the attic hand in hand.

Cream, flower print, sheets wrinkled as Patty wriggled around in her bed, searching for comfort, bitter dreams haunting her mind as she lay unawake.

_Buzzing green lights and vast portals of blue energy created a cryptic effect as monks huddled in a circle around the glowing magicks. Thumps on the other side of a large oak door caused the monks to hurry, focusing on the energy and chanting in Latin, before the emerald light grew and a flash rippled throughout them._

The top half of her body ripped up from the mattress as she gasped and pushed her hair back from where sweat was sticking it to her forehead,

"what was that?" she panted to herself, pressing her other hand to her chest to try and calm the horrendous clapping of her heart.

That morning, Leo orbed in to tell the family of what consequences he may face for his actions three days ago,

"what did they say?" Piper, who had decided to take part in the situation considering it was her husband, asked,

"they said that, because what I, we, did will eventually pan out to be for the greater good, that we have nothing to worry about," he replied.

"Well that's good, now we can focus on Glory without having to worry about anything else," Phoebe said,

"apart from the Source," Cole added,

"and the power of two," Willow stated, glancing at Piper as the brunette walked through to the kitchen.

"Uh, Patty, why don't you go talk to your Aunt Piper," Phoebe told her,

"yeah, sure," the teen said suspiciously, following her eldest aunt's footsteps,

"what's wrong?" Leo questioned,

"I know what…who…the Key is, I've known for awhile but I didn't know what to do," she said.

"Okay, who is it?" Cole asked,

"it's Patty," Willow replied,

"how do you know?"

"well the way you reacted after we cast the truth seeing spell, and then you were suddenly so kind and protective of her," the redhead said.

"Yeah, I just didn't know how to tell you guys, how are we gonna tell Patty?" Phoebe said,

"we don't," Cole replied,

"but isn't Glory going to find out about her?" Tara asked,

"not if we can stop Glory first, Cole's right, Patty never needs to know," Leo told them.

"Does Piper know?"

"I told her, I had to," the clairvoyant said, "but it didn't persuade to come back at all, it just made her wanna leave magic behind more."

"There must be someone who can persuade Piper, how 'bout we do a spell?" Willow suggested,

"she'll kill us if she finds out," Phoebe reminded,

"it's worth it," Willow countered, handing the psychic a pad and pen.

Moments later, Phoebe and Willow sat together on the sofa as they cast the newly written spell:

"The power of persuasion is what we seek,

So send someone who'll make Piper weak,

To get her back on our side,

Let her find what she needs to decide."

Nothing happened. No lights. No glow. Not even a tingle.

"I'm going to the club," Piper said, walking passed the room as she made her way through the foyer and to the front door,

"it didn't work," Phoebe whispered,

"what do we do?" Tara asked quietly,

"nothing, there's nothing anyone can do now, if that spell was meant to have worked it would have," Cole explained, as the front door clicked shut behind Piper.

The time stopping brunette arrived at P3, which had practically become her home ever since she had vowed to part from her charmed destiny, and found a young blonde sitting at the bar waiting for her. The unknown girl, who looked no older than eighteen, had blonde, wavy, hair and was dressed in jeans, stiletto black, pointed toe, boots, with a tight orange halter neck and quite large gold hoop earrings.

"Who are you?" Piper questioned, although she felt the strange need to trust the girl when she saw the gold triquetra pendant that she wore,

"I'm the one who's here to help you," the stranger replied, Piper instantly raised her hands, "whoa, wait, don't shoot the messenger," the girl said, taking a step back.

"What are you here to 'help me' with?"

"your magic, you have conflicted feelings mo…Piper, I know that,"

"how, are you an empath or something?" Piper didn't take her eyes off the girl as she walked over to the other side of the bar and set her purse down.

"No, but I know a lot about you,"

"and yet I know nothing about you,"

"oh, sorry, I'm Trudence, but you can call me Tru," the girl introduced, offering her hand out to Piper, who declined.

"There isn't anyone or anything who can change my mind," Piper told her,

"if I were you I'd prepare to take that back," Tru said, telekinetically floating Piper's bottle of water over to her while the witch had her back turned. After sprinkling tiny clear crystals from a purple velvet pouch she had in her back pocket, Tru returned the bottle and watched as the gems dissolved, leaving no trace of their existence behind.

"What's that?" Piper asked, turning back around, from where she had been putting her purse and jacket in the locked cupboard under the bar, and seeing the small violet bag,

"a good luck charm," Tru lied, "it looks like I'm gonna need one if I'm gonna persuade you," she gave Piper a small smile, causing the twenty-eight year old's hard exterior to falter.

"Fine, I'll listen to you," Piper said, pretending to scratch her neck as she attempted to secretly try and freeze Tru,

"I'm a good witch, that won't work," the blonde smirked,

"just give me your best shot," the molecular sighed.

"First, tell me why you want to get rid of your powers?" Tru instructed, though she was in fact just stalling until Piper took a sip of her water.

Back at the manor, the family were discussing the Key when Patty entered and they suddenly stopped,

"what's wrong? why have you all gone quiet?" the teenage witch questioned,

"because it's rude to carry on a conversation when someone comes into a room," Leo said, trying to cover up the situation.

"Oh, right," Patty said softly, not entirely believing them,

"the Elders are calling," the whitelighter stated, breaking apart into blue-white lights,

"I wish I could do that, it's nifty," Willow said, looking like she was in her own little world as she stared at the disappearing orbs with a big grin on her face.

"Demon!" Cole hollered, running forward and pushing Patty to the floor in order to save her from an incoming energy ball, Willow threw out her hand to blast the attacker, but instead his body morphed into swarming particles and then clustered back together.

"What was that?" she exclaimed,

"the Hollow," Cole whispered, as Phoebe kicked the scrawny demon in the pit of his stomach and then punctured his chest with a pointy piece of wood which remained of the coffee table that the energy ball had struck instead of Patty.

"Everybody okay?" Tara asked,

"no," Willow replied, emphasizing her point by flicking her hand towards a vase and failing to move it with her telekinesis,

"what happened? where are your powers?" Phoebe questioned, standing still in awe.

At P3, Tru had asked the same question in about fifty different ways, and Piper was only now about to drink some of her water,

"what?" the brunette asked, pulling the bottle away from her lips when she spotted Tru staring at her intently.

"Nothing, jeez, paranoid much," the teen muttered, rolling her eyes, Piper paused for a second to glare at the girl before finally swallowing some of the clear cold liquid containing in her plastic bottle,

"what the hell?" she groaned, dropping her bottle and clutching her head as flashing images tore through her mind.

_A half faced demon was exploding into flame._

_Then, Piper was lying in her bed, with sweat glistening on her brow as she screamed out and looked down at her swollen abdomen._

_Next, Piper and Leo were putting out breakfast on three plates; two Wonder Woman ones and one Superman one, while three kids; two little girls and an older boy, sat at the table._

_Finally, a picture of Tru and presumably her twin was stuck into a photo album, with the words 'Trudence and Tessa, My Little Angels' magically inscribed beneath it, in what was undeniably Piper's handwriting._

"But…the voice…in the hospital said…" Piper stammered, clutching her chest and breathing heavily, tears blossoming in her eyes,

"said a lie," Tru told her,

"you…you're my daughter?" Piper asked, the tears of happiness now washing down her cheeks,

"it's Tru," the blonde nodded, "pardon the pun," she added, tears of her own beginning to appear as they embraced in a hug.

"Promise me you won't turn your back on magic, if you do then we'll never meet again," Tru whispered in her ear,

"I promise," Piper replied. They shared one last smile with each other, before Tru exited in a scarlet astral flare.

Orbs bathed the attic in light as Leo reformed,

"seriously bad news, the Source has unleashed the Hollow," he informed them,

"we know," Phoebe said, swivelling the pedestal so he could see that they were on the page named that in the Book of Shadows.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Piper's voice yelled from downstairs, as they heard the front door be swallowed into it's frame,

"we need to get down there before she tries to use her powers on any demon that may attack," Leo stated, and then they all herded down the stairs.

"Watch out!" Willow yelled, as a darklighter materialised out of black orbs and prepared to shoot an arrow from the crossbow trademark to his kind,

"Piper don't!" Cole ordered, but it was too late, she had already tried to use her power on the darklighter and the Hollow inside of him had absorbed it.

"What the…?" she began, clearly in confusion, but the following event brought her back to reality with a bang as an arrow pierced Leo's stomach muscles and he dropped to the floor in agony as the poison began it's terminal pulse.

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed, running to her husband's aid and lifting his head onto her lap,

"what're we gonna do?" Patty asked,

"well they didn't take my wiccan abilities," Willow said, giving Tara a nudge as a sign which the blonde understood. They clamped hands and focused on the darklighter, using their wicca magic to set him ablaze and vanquish him.

"We need help," Piper stated, stroking Leo's face and looking up at his family, "I didn't decide to come back to magic just for it to fail me," they all exchanged looks and it appeared that they all finally realised just how much trouble they were in.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- The Source has two of the charmed powers, meaning the family is two charmed powers down, who will win the fight?**

'**Charmed And Dangerous' should be up soon.**


	8. Charmed And Dangerous

**Some parts of this are copied from the episode, but with my modifications.**

**Also, I know Glory had no actual magical abilities in Buffy, just her super strength, but considering this is Charmed too, I'm gonna give her some. **

**No reviews, but I'm gonna post this anyway. And before any possible reviewer says anything, the spell used in this is from the original script, they just swapped 'Patricia' and 'Penny' around the next time they used it, for god knows why.**

**Charmed And Dangerous: **

Leo let out a loud groan of pain as Piper freed the arrow from his abdomen,

"I don't understand, if you can heal other people why not yourself?" Willow asked,

"because that's not the way it works," he replied.

"Then you can switch powers with Phoebe and she can heal you like we did last time," Piper stated,

"no, if the Source attacks whitelighter powers will be useless against him," Leo objected,

"Willow, go tell Phoebe to find something else, a spell, an amulet, whatever, go!" Piper ordered, Willow nodded and headed through into the conservatory where Phoebe and Cole were.

"We have a spell, hopefully if you vanquish the Source then we'll get back our powers, if only we can get close enough to say it," Phoebe told her,

"he'll be prepared, that's why he came after Leo, why he came after our powers, he knows what we're gonna do before we even do," Willow said,

"yeah, well, I still have my power, it's not over yet," Phoebe said, exchanging glances with her boyfriend and fellow charmed one.

**The Underworld**

"Two down," the Seer murmured darkly,

"one to go," the Source chuckled, before noticing that his key advisor had blank eyes, signifying her search into the future, "what is it? what do you see?" he questioned,

"I see nothing,"

"what do you mean? do I or do I not have the power to stop the witches?"

"You misunderstand. I see nothing. No magic. No life. No world. The Hollow will consume everything just as I originally warned,"

"then if there's no future I have no further need for you, do I, Seer?"

"Please, I beg you, put the Hollow back where it belongs,"

"not until I'm finished, not until I've killed them all,"

"but that's madness, the Hollow won't let you stop there,"

"then so be it!" he growled, gesturing at an ancient vase and blowing it up, freezing it mid-explode.

"The witches' powers are strong, but the Hollow's are stronger," the Seer reminded,

"guard the Hollow, I have another demon to recruit," he snarled, telekinetically flinging the box that formerly contained the Hollow into her unwelcoming arms, flaming out after doing so.

**The Manor**

Cole opened his bedroom closet and began feeling around in the pocket of one of his jackets before pulling something out,

"what are you doing?" he asked, as Phoebe marched in and began searching through the draws,

"I'm just looking for my potion book, have you seen it anywhere?"

"I didn't think you could save Leo with a potion,"

"it's not just to save Leo, it's to save us all,"

"oh, yeah? how?"

"I-I don't know, but I can't just sit here and…" she stopped when she noticed the cream ring box in his hand, "what's that?"

"It's just a little something I've been waiting for the right moment to give you, so, will you be my wife?"

"Cole, I don't think now's the time,"

"actually, I think now's the perfect time," opening the box, he slid the diamond ring onto her finger,

"yes, I will marry you, but now you have to go," she told him, planting a quick kiss on his lips,

"no, I'm staying here with you,"

"do you want me to watch you die too?"

"if that's what it takes to save you, then yeah," he stubbornly replied.

**Downstairs**

"I just remembered something," Piper said, as Cole and Phoebe joined her, Tara, Willow, Leo and Patty in the sitting room,

"what?" Phoebe asked,

"in my vision, I saw some kind of demon with half a face exploding in the attic," the brunette replied.

"Vision?"

"yeah, so, does this guy work for the Source?" she questioned,

"he doesn't work for the Source, Piper, he _is _the Source," Cole explained, dropping a very heavy bombshell on the group which just added to the list of problems they had; now they knew what the Source looked like, they could visualise him killing them and everyone they love, and this was not going to help. Ripples gathered in the air as yet another demon appeared, he formed an energy ball and prepared to through it, leading to Patty attempting to be sneaky by using her telepathy on him, but unfortunately for her the Hollow had saw it coming and absorbed her power, though she had managed to telepathically clone his powers before this.

"Throw it!" Cole instructed, as the demon created a second, the teen through the glimmering globe and blew the demon into oblivion,

"try and read my mind," Willow told her,

"I can't, it got my powers, but, luckily…" the dark haired orphan began, "I've been working on copying other powers with my own, and I've been channelling through to the source and cloning that telepathically too,"

"what does this mean?" Tara asked,

"it means she has his powers, well at least a temporary duplication of his powers, am I right?" Piper said, Patty nodded and conjured up an energy ball to prove her point.

"Dark powers are hard to handle, you won't be able to cope," Leo croaked, as he wavered in between consciousness and it's opposite,

"but I can," Cole stated, standing up,

"no, you've just got free of evil, I'm not gonna let you go back," Phoebe argued,

"she's right…the powers will.…will fuse with your demon blood and become permanent," Leo choked,

"I told you Phoebe, I'll do anything to save you," Cole said, fear flooded Phoebe's face, along with traces of tears filling up in her eyes.

"Do it," Piper told her niece, taking Phoebe's expression as sign that she understood that this had to be done, Patty hesitantly reached out to the Book of Shadows and turned to the right page;

"What's mine is yours,

What's yours is mine,

Let our powers cross the line,

I offer up my gift to share,

Switch our powers through the air."

Bulbs of red light parted from Patty and entered Cole, an energy ball materialising in his hand,

"what other powers do you have?" Willow asked,

"time will tell," he replied,

"time is one thing we don't have," Phoebe stated.

"That's why I want you to shimmer Leo and Patty out of here," Piper told Cole,

"but…" Patty began,

"no buts," Piper strictly told her,

"take Tara too," Willow said, "I love you baby," she whispered in her girlfriend's ear, before Cole shimmered the instructed three out.

"We need to fight the Source on our territory," Phoebe said,

"but we don't have any territory without our powers," Willow interjected,

"and, not to sound like a school bully, but your powers are gonna be kinda useless against him Pheebs," Piper said, Phoebe shrugged and put her folded spell into her back pocket.

**The Underworld**

"You fear me, I can hear your thoughts with the young one's power," the Source said,

"I do not fear you, my liege, I fear the Hollow," the Seer replied, glancing over at the ornate box which currently held the magical black hole.

"Fear as you may, soon it will not be needed, after I destroy the power of three forever,"

"get in line," a female voice said, as Glory appeared out of swirling red light balls, similar to the way spirits appeared, except her lights were accompanied by crackling bolts of the same scarlet colour,

"globing," the Seer noted, "she must be a Higher Being, rid of her now,"

"hey, globing isn't just for Higher Beings…" Glory began,

"it's for hellgods too," he finished. The Seer's eyes widened in awe,

"you have plenty of hell dimensions, I rule this underworld, and soon I will rule every world, so leave, NOW!" the Source told her, his voice growing into a roar as he completed his sentence.

"Jeez, calm down, I just came to strike a deal; I'll share my power with you so you can kill the charmed ones, if you help me get my Key from them," the blonde told him,

"deal," the Source instantly hissed, gesturing at the box and releasing the Hollow into himself,

"my liege, this is suicide," the Seer said,

"silence!" he roared, before motioning for Glory to use her powers on him. She agreed and fired a handful of plummeting red lights, blowing him up long enough for the Hollow to absorb the magic and then his molecules reconstituted.

"Remember, find me my Key," Glory reminded, as flames began to blaze around the Source,

"I beg of you to stop this now," the Seer pleaded,

"I have another power to receive, another demon to recruit," he stubbornly said, walking away and flaming out mid-stride.

**The Manor**

"Okay, so we have a vanquishing spell, but still no way of getting the Source here," Piper stated,

"how 'bout the spell to call our powers, it might be strong enough to draw them out of the Hollow," Phoebe suggested,

"or at least drag the Source here," Willow added,

"it's worth a shot," Piper nodded, walking over to where the book sat on the conservatory table. After a few flipped pages, the trio cast the spell:

"Powers of the witches rise,

Course unseen across the skies,

Come to us who call you near,

Come to us and settle here."

A plume of hot, blazing, fire rose from the floor and became the Source,

"you rang?" he chuckled evilly, his deformed face illuminating in the light of the room,

"what do we do?" Willow asked,

"run!" Piper replied. They raced through the sitting room and even had to jump over the sofa as he threw a fire ball and narrowly missed,

"we need to get to the attic," Piper said,

"watch out!" Phoebe yelled, as a fire ball rocketed her big sister into the wall,

"c'mon, we can do this," the clairvoyant said, helping Willow to get Piper upstairs. They rested Piper near the back of the attic, and, while Phoebe tried to wake her, Willow looked for things to attack the Source with,

"crystals," Phoebe whispered to herself,

"crystals?" Willow repeated,

"last year, Prue created a cage using crystals, if we can get six of them around the Source it should trap him," the brunette replied.

"I've found some," Willow said, opening a cardboard shoebox filled with chunky crystals,

"just in time," Phoebe said, as the Source flamed in. The psychic stood up and spun a levitating kick into the Underworld King, throwing him to the floor and giving Willow a chance to place four crystals down.

"Your power was always the weakest, hardly worth taking, your life however…" he snarled, as he came back up and Willow put down the fifth crystal, tossing Phoebe the sixth and watching as she set it down to create a dome of mystical bolts.

"It seems almost anti-climactic after all this time doesn't it?" he said, telekinetically sliding a crystal away and diminishing the cage,

"the spell," Piper coughed,

"is something you can't cast if your dead," he said, forming a fire ball, "say hello to Prue for me."

"Why? too lazy to say it yourself?" a familiar voice asked, as he turned to see the spirit of the former charmed one herself,

"Prue," Piper gasped, whereas Willow just smiled at the ghost and Phoebe's jaw dropped,

"you're dead," the Source growled, "you can't defeat me,"

"no, but they can," Prue said, nodding to her charmed ones as they unfolded the spell,

"no!" he bellowed, creating a fire ball. However, he had no chance to throw it when Prue telekinetically moved back the crystal and recreated the energy cage,

"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda,

Astrid, Helena, Laura, and Grace,

Halliwell witches stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space."

Heat swept through the room as the Source met a fiery and vicious end.

"Prue," Piper whispered, a breeze brushing passed them as they failed to see the raven haired deceased,

"she's gone," Phoebe murmured,

"we did it," Willow said,

"we did," Piper nodded, leaning her shoulder on Phoebe as she took a deep breath in hopes of regaining her energy and to ease her wounds.

**The Underworld**

"Dumb ass," Glory cursed, feeling her powers returned to her and then globing out,

"what was needed was done, now the Hollow must be obtained," the Seer said, scooping up the box and vanishing from sight.

**The Manor**

"Quick, say this chant with me," the stranger who had just appeared before the charmed ones said,

"who are you?" Piper asked, sitting down on the loveseat,

"somebody who just helped save your life, now come," the Seer replied, motioning for one of them to join her. Phoebe shuffled over and held the Seer's shoulders as they said the strange language, watching as the box lifted from the Seer's hands and magically returned to where it belonged.

"Too bad Belthazar's gone, he would have made a great Source," the Seer said, glancing at Phoebe before fading away. Shimmers and orbs gathered in the air and morphed into Leo, Cole, Patty and Tara,

"your healed," Piper said, seeing her husband,

"and now so are you," he smiled, joining her on the loveseat and releasing a golden glow over her.

"But how?" Phoebe questioned,

"mom, it was her, it was really her," Patty replied, gazing into space as salty liquid glimmered in her eyes, Piper stood up and held her niece softly,

"she healed you?" Willow asked, Leo nodded,

"becoming a spirit must have given Prue advanced and new abilities," Cole said,

"so, technically, she's more like a goddess than a spirit," Tara said. The group smiled,

"you hear that sweetie, your mom's a goddess," Piper said to Patty, stroking her hair and then hugging her again.

**To be continued…**

**Next chapter- The celebrations are cut short when Victor arrives. The sisters meet Willow's mother. Not believing in coincidences proves a good thing for the family yet again, when a secret is revealed, giving Willow the shock of her life. And the Seer pays Cole a visit.**

'**Lovechild' should be up soon. **


	9. Lovechild

**Lovechild:**

**December, 1980**

Victor Bennet shuffled along the cold streets of Sunnydale, where he was visiting on business. His collar was pulled up to hide his neck from the icy weather, while unexpected snow glittered in the moonlight from where it was scattered across his coat and shoes. Fifteen minutes of non-stop walking had only brought him to a cheap looking bar in the shady part of town, known as 'Myth' in this time, but as 'The Bronze' in the years to come. The inside of the bar was designed to match the name, pictures of mythological creatures like centaurs and goddesses were painted in numerous, bright, colours on the walls, with a yellow neon light in the shape of a lightening bolt hanging from the ceiling. Victor felt like walking out straight after seeing the style of the place, as it reminded him to much of witches, their craft and their beliefs, though the main witch on his mind was Patricia Halliwell, his former love whom he would have risked life and limb for once upon a time. However, his motel was quite a long walk away, and Patty had been dead for over two years, maybe it was time for him to get on with his life without thinking of the witchcraft hidden within normal objects and fashions. He made his way over to the bar and took a seat on one of the sand and emerald coloured stools,

"scotch, straight," he said, the bartender nodded and turned to pour the drink. Glancing around the room, Victor spotted a young woman, a bit younger than himself, wisps of bronze-red hair littered a face of both innocence and attitude, while a short, red, long-sleeved, dress hugged her figure and pointed heels lifted her up a few inches from her true height. An attraction built up between the too, before the mystery lady finally walked over to him,

"Sheila, Sheila Rosenberg," she said, offering out her hand, as he accepted it, Victor felt something on her finger and pulled away to see a gold ring shining around it.

"Your married," he whispered,

"I know, it's a shame isn't it," she replied bluntly, removing her ring and tucking it into her crimson purse, he couldn't help but smile,

"Victor Bennet," he introduced,

"nice to meet you Victor." Handing over the correct amount of bills, Victor downed his drink in one and then ordered another one,

"tough night?" Sheila asked, "fallen out with the wife?" she smirked, eyeing his own ring,

"that'd be kinda hard, she moved on a few years ago, though knowing her family…" he muttered, slipping it off and dropping it into the front pocket of his cotton shirt.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she sincerely said,

"it's okay, my marriage was over long before her death, I guess I just never thought to take this off," he said, patting his pocket before taking a swig of his second drink.

"Now this just doesn't feel right," Sheila said,

"what doesn't?" he questioned,

"seducing you to get back at my husband," she honestly told him,

"it's right if I let you do it," he said softly, placing his hand on her leg. She set her hand on his and bounced up from her chair,

"let's go," she said, taking his hand and giving him a pull as he finished his drink.

After a passionate night in his motel room, Victor awoke to find Sheila tracing her finger across his bare chest,

"good morning," she said, punctuating her words with kisses,

"I'm late for a meeting," he stated, glancing at his watch,

"stay, if you're already late they won't be expecting you," she said softly, beginning to nibble playfully on his ear.

**San Francisco, August, 2001**

Sheila Rosenberg, now older and a much devoted business woman, knocked on the door of 1329 Prescott Street, awaiting for her daughter or one of her new friends to answer.

"Hi, you must be Willow's mom," a petite brunette said, answering the door,

"yes, and you must be Pepper," Sheila replied,

"it's Piper," Willow corrected, walking up behind her fellow charmed one,

"Willow, how nice to see you again," Sheila said, talking to the redhead like she was more of an old friend than her own child.

"Hi mom," the witch said in a hardly friendly manner, "come in," opening the door a bit wider, she motioned for her parent to enter,

"where's your other friend, Freebie isn't it?" Sheila said, Piper suppressed a laugh. Willow had told the family of her mother's tendency to say and hear names wrong, but the fact that she had come up with the name Phoebe was given as a teenager didn't say much about the clairvoyant herself.

"Mrs Rose-Rosenberg," Tara stammered, as she reached the bottom of the stairs,

"Miss Maclay," Sheila said coldly. It was obvious she did not approve of her daughter's love, and maybe it she had been around more than things would be different, maybe Willow would be a normal girl and never gotten into witchcraft or began hanging around with 'Bunny', as Sheila called her. Skipping down the stairs, Phoebe walked over and introduced herself to their guest,

"hi, I'm Phoebe," she said, offering out her hand,

"why hello Freebie, I'm Sheila," the woman smiled, reaching out and excepting Phoebe's hand, rocketing the witch into a strong, colourful, premonition:

_Victor awoke to find Sheila tracing her finger across his bare chest,_

"_good morning," she said, punctuating her words with kisses,_

"_I'm late for a meeting," he stated, glancing at his watch,_

"_stay, if you're already late they won't be expecting you," she said softly, beginning to nibble playfully on his ear. _

"Oh, crap," the light brunette whispered to herself, pulling away from Sheila,

"Phoebe, is something wrong?" Piper asked, through a fake smile,

"uh, no," she lied, "but can I see you for a minute," Phoebe added, heading into the kitchen,

"sure," Piper nodded, walking after her.

"Dad had sex with her!" the clairvoyant blurted out,

"what?" Piper exclaimed,

"I had a premonition!"

"ewe," Piper cringed.

"No, not of them doing _it_, them after doing _it_," Phoebe explained,

"well it's still ewe!" Piper pointed out,

"yeah, it is, I think I'm scarred for life," Phoebe said,

"I think I would rather be deaf during this conversation," Piper stated, swivelling on her heels and heading back of the kitchen.

"Oh god, how am I gonna look this woman in the face?" Phoebe asked, looking upwards as if expecting someone to answer.

Minutes later, the charmed ones, Tara and Sheila were settled in the sitting room when the doorbell rang once again,

"knowing our luck that'll be dad," Phoebe muttered to herself, stepping over Piper's legs to get through to the foyer. Bracing herself for anything unexpected, Phoebe reached out and pulled at the handle, the door slowly creeping open to reveal that it was in fact her and Piper's father, Victor Bennet.

"Hello baby," he smiled, moving his arms out to share a hug,

"oh my god," was all the Halliwell could say, as he pulled her against him in a warm embrace.

"It couldn't be…" Piper said to herself, upon hearing her father's voice, "excuse me one moment," she said to the others, before standing and entering the foyer to see Victor and Phoebe hugging.

"Doesn't your daddy get a hello?" he asked, stepping towards Piper,

"oh crap," she groaned, flicking out her hands and freezing him in place,

"is something wrong?" Willow asked, walking up behind them to see Victor, "demon!" she exclaimed, squinting at the man and flinging him against the closed door like a rag doll thrown by a little kid mid-tantrum.

"You just used your powers on our dad!" Phoebe exclaimed,

"your dad?" Willow repeated,

"powers?" Sheila, who was now standing in the wooden frame between the sitting room and the foyer with Tara, gasped.

"Sheila?" Victor exclaimed,

"Victor?"

"great, this is just great," Piper groaned,

"you two know each other?" Willow asked,

"I think I'll just be going," Sheila said, grabbing her purse from the sofa and heading towards the door,

"no! not until you tell us how you two know each other!" Willow ordered, her eyes momentarily turning black.

"Maybe you should all sit down," Victor suggested,

"we already know Dad," Phoebe stated,

"what? But…how?"

"I had a premonition," she replied.

"A premonition of what?" Willow questioned,

"wait, how long ago did it happen?" Piper asked,

"uh…about 1980," Sheila sheepishly said, Piper glanced at Willow, then Sheila, and finally her father.

"Oh my god," she murmured,

"what?" Phoebe wondered,

"she's our sister," Piper whispered softly,

"who is? Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Willow asked,

"I'm so sorry girls, we didn't want to hurt anyone," Victor began,

"then why didn't you tell us?" Piper yelled, the mirror beside her exploding from her anger as she turned and charged off, slamming the kitchen door behind her. Victor started to go after his daughter but Phoebe stopped him with a glare,

"I'll go," she said, walking away.

"Willow, I'm sorry," Sheila stepped towards her daughter, who now had tears glistening in her gentle eyes,

"what about Dad?" the redhead sobbed, pulling away,

"he will always be your father, he always has been, but…" Sheila started to explain,

"but he isn't really," Willow said, turning to Victor, "you are." He could only nod as she walked strangely slow up stairs, tears bubbling in her eyes as Tara went after her, leaving Sheila and Victor alone.

"Maybe it would have been better if we had told the truth from the beginning," Victor said,

"no, it would have been even worse if your girls had found out they were expecting a sister and then I took her away from them," Sheila replied,

"I don't think things could get any worse."

**To be continued…**

**A/N. Sorry this chapter was so short! I've just had EXTREME writer's block for it! Anyway, enough excuses, next chapter will move forward slightly…**

**Next chapter- Glory is convinced she's found the key. The Seer teases Phoebe with cryptic visions. Willow and Tara fall out. And Piper sends Victor packing as he attempts to apologise.**

"**Tough Love" will be up when it's done (hopefully soon). **


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